Warriors for the Working Day
by ucsbdad
Summary: Turnabout is fair play. The ultra violent world of Hammer's Slammers, a 31st century mercenary armored regiment enters the universe of Farscape. Sequel to Seeing the Elephant. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Warriors For The Working Day  
By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

 **Author's note:** This is a sequel to my crossover story Seeing the Elephant. These stories are crossovers from the Farscape universe and the universe of David Drake's Hammer's Slammers. I have tried to explain the back story, but you may wish to read Seeing the Elephant. You can learn more about Hammer's Slammers at . and / and 

We are but warriors for the working-day;  
Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd  
With rainy marching in the painful field;  
There's not a piece of feather in our host-  
Good argument, I hope, we will not fly-  
And time hath worn us into slovenry:  
But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim;

King Henry V, By William Shakespeare

Every time my foot landed, a lance of pain from my broken ankle shot up my leg. I ignored it. I had too many other things to do to worry about pain. Firstly, I had to get to the rough hill country off to the west. Then I had to find a way to kill the bastard who had broken my ankle. Then I had to find my husband and children. If something had happened to John and the children…..That was another worry I had no time for. Not now.

I saw sunlight ahead of me and slowed to a stop, taking cover behind one of the small trees in the pitiful excuse for a forest I was trapped in. I dropped to all fours and then to my belly. I crawled another twenty motras, dragging my injured leg behind me.

Frell! The trees were thinning out. In less than a hundred motras the woods gave way entirely to an open prairie. Across more than a metra of prairie I could see another tree line. Big, thick trees, whose branches intertwined to create a nearly impenetrable barrier from above. And beyond those trees were the tangled hills whose caves could hide an army.

I lay there for long microts and finally told myself what I had known from the start. To cross into the open was death. My enemy had some sort of an airborne vehicle, he had the finest sensors money could buy, and he had excellent weapons. I had one good leg, my own senses and three water-smoothed stones I had plucked from a stream a day ago.

I sighed, turned around and dragged myself back into the trees. I used a tree to pull myself back upright. I considered trying to tear off a branch as a crutch or a club. I pulled at a likely looking branch. No luck. I swore softly and headed away from the open country behind me.

In another half an arn, I came upon a small pool of water. I checked for an ambush, and then knelt and drank deeply. When I was done, I looked at the mud surrounding the pool. I lay down and rolled in the mud, covering my nakedness, and, I hoped, camouflaging me.

I spent a good while piling mud onto the frelling tracking device my hunter had planted on my right shoulder. I had tried to knock it out yesterday by slamming my shoulder against a large boulder only to find that the barbs that held it to my shoulder were in too deep. If I did manage to get it off, I'd lose half my shoulder.

I was just about to leave when I spotted movement at the bottom of the pond. Something blue and six-legged was sitting at the bottom of the pond looking up at me. I slowly moved towards it, and then in a flash I had it in my hand. I popped it into my mouth. It had an exoskeleton and tasted gamy, but it was the first food I'd had since I had arrived on this frelling planet.

I kept moving for another two arns. It was mid-afternoon, as far as I could tell. So far, I had seen no sign of my hunter. He was out there, though. Somewhere.

The woods ended abruptly and I found myself at a small stream, not five motras across. On the other side was the deep, thick forest I had been heading for.

I pitched forward feeling like my skin was on fire. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. I tried to put my hands out to break my fall, but they didn't move. My head slammed into a rock and I felt blood running down my face.

Face down in the rocks, I could see nothing. There was a low, growling hum that told me that my hunter had arrived.

A booted foot kicked against my ribs, and then turned me over onto my back. Behind him I could see an aircycle. Nothing more than a grav bladder, a motor and some controls. I had expected something more luxurious. I managed, with some effort, to swing my eyes around to look at him. He was as tall as my John, but heavier. Most of that weight was around his middle or in one of his chins. He was dressed in a parody of a Luxan warrior's armor. His armor was bright and shiny and covered with engraving, mostly pornographic. He had a helmet literally covered with Ilanic perra bird feathers. His skin was the white of a Sebacean who rarely got outside and his small dark eyes stared out from a fat, vacuous face. All in all, any real warrior would have laughed himself sick at the sight of the hunter. The three guns in the holsters at his waist kept me from thinking of him as a figure of fun.

"Ah, my dear Aeryn. Such little sport you have afforded me." He couldn't stop smiling.

I managed to catch my breath enough to answer. "Give me ten microts to recover and see what sport I give you." I tried to move my arms and legs. No good. It might take me longer than that. I had to keep him talking. He did.

"It's my own fault, I'm afraid. The device in your shoulder beams a signal to a network of satellites around this planet. I had a civilized meal last night and then a jolly time with three companions who were so, so willing to please. Then off for a restful sleep. All the while my Master of the Hunt kept track of you, so that all I had to do was come and get you."

"Don't you feel you're missing something by not doing any of the real work yourself?" I asked, putting as much of a sting into it as I could.

"Dear me." He simpered. "Do you think you'll get to use those rocks on me?"

He leaned forward, put his boot on my hand and put all of his weight on it. I felt nothing, but I did hear a finger break as the rocks fell from my hand.

He shook his head. "By the god's three pricks, but you're exciting me. You're naked, covered in filth and totally defenseless. How arousing you are. I must have you now."

I managed a smile. "If you think you can without your Master of the Hunt to do all the work for you."

He pulled a long metal rod from behind his belt. "I regret having to use this on you at this stage, Aeryn. This is a development of the neural whip. I'm very much afraid that in order to knock you out sufficiently to frell you, I'll have to use it on you. Some part of your brain will be destroyed. In the long run, it's no matter since I'll have to destroy your higher brain centers anyway. Soon you'll be just an empty vessel awaiting my pleasure. And when I tire of you, I can sell you to the highest bidder. Who wouldn't want the infamous Aeryn Sun Crichton as a slave?"

"My husband might have something to say about your slave sale."

He laughed. "I don't think I'll waste much time worrying about John Crichton."

He leaned down, aiming the rod at my head. "I usually like to take my time and enjoy the process…."

There was a loud crack and a shower of mud hit my face.

"Frelling bugs!" he screamed. "I've told Goro and told him, that for the amount of money I pay to use this planet, it should be pristine. If my neural…."

He stopped in mid sentence. He lifted his hand to the side of his neck and then started clawing at his neck. He started to turn and then toppled to the ground. He landed with his face only denches from mine. I could see he was trying to breath, but couldn't. His face turned purple and his hands stopped clawing at his neck. He lost control of his bowels and bladder and then sagged. He was dead.

I lay there for another micron or so. With great effort I managed to raise my head up to look around me. What I saw wasn't encouraging. Just barely visible cross the stream were three, no, four, blurs. Not bug sized blurs, but anthropoid sized blurs.

After a microt, one blur headed up stream and the other down stream. The other two waded into the stream, headed for me.

"Ye daft keelie idjit." snarled one. "Ye've kilt 'im!"

"Awa' wi' ye, Jie Dee." growled the other.

They stopped by me and knelt down. One blur seemed to touch the dead man beside me.

"'E's deid. Intel'll get naught frae 'im."

The other one snorted. "An' 'im wi''is soul as black as the breeks o' the Earl o' Hell. 'E wiz gonna hae his way wi' 'er, wusn'e?"

"McAuslan, ye dozie chiel! Thim's tha sort intel wants. She'll tell us naught."

That seemed to draw their attention to me.

"She's a rare stotter." muttered one blur.

"A brammer, but." replied the other.

"Air ye gonna gab like fishwives all ta day?" came a voice from across the stream.

"Nae, Sarn't Telfer." They both replied.

"Air ye hurt, lass?" asked one.

"My ankle is broken." I managed to get out. The bastard had apparently missed my head with his neural weapon, but it had been close enough that my head was starting to pound and I was short of breath.

" 'Ere then." The other said. A stab of pain went up my leg as he raised my ankle. Then there was a feeling of extreme cold and then I couldn't feel my leg below my knee. I managed to glance down and saw the ankle was covered in a dull gray material.

"My finger, too." I managed.

One blur reached for my finger and after a stab of pain, followed by cold, I lost all the feeling in my hand.

"Ah pit a ban'age ain yer face, missus." The other said. I hadn't noticed.

One of them grabbed my shoulder to pull me into a sitting position. I could feel the tracking device tearing my muscle and scraping against the bone. I tried unsuccessfully to stifle a scream.

"Ye glaikit teuchter!" The one called McAuslan snarled at his companion. "Wha's wrong, missus?"

I managed to catch my breath. "There's a tracking device in my shoulder. It's held in by barbs. It'll have to come out."

They very gently raised me to a sitting position and examined the device on my shoulder with much swearing and muttering. I wondered how much damage the neural weapon had done to me. My head was pounding and then I threw up all down my front.

"'Ere, missus." Something appeared in McAuslan's blurred hand. A twist of his thumb caused it to open. "T'is nae the creature, but…" He tipped it over and a liquid shot out and into my mouth. It had an oddly sweet taste, but it did settle my stomach.

"See's yer tool, Jie Dee." Something small and metallic was passed from one blur to another. Frell! My stomach was better, but I was getting woozy.

"Air there any hex-plosives in'at?" Someone asked.

I shook my head. "No. I don't think there are anyway. " I managed to get out. By the goddess, but my head was spinning.

"Ah weel…" A voice said. Then I heard the sound of one of the metal barbs being cut, then the next and the next. Then I felt the comforting feeling of cold followed by the loss of feeling.

"Tha' barbs air still in, missus. Awfy sorry. The MO'll hae ta pull 'em oot." Was that McAuslan?

"She cannae move hersel'." Someone said.

"Wee Wullie." Someone called.

One of the blurs crossed the stream. Up close, this blur was the size of a Luxan warrior. The blur, I assumed this was Wee Wullie, leaned down, picked me up and slung me over his shoulder. At his feet was a bulky black rifle of some unknown type. Someone reached for it, and as soon as the blurred hand touched it, the rifle resolved into just another blur.

"Darkie'll hae ye on jankers frae 'im." Wee Wullie said, kicking the dead body at his feet.

"Pit the hems in, big yin." One blur growled. McAuslan?

We crossed the stream. The fourth blur was already heading upstream. "Mr. MacNeill called in the transport. Twenty minutes to pickup."

I was over Wee Wullie's shoulder with my head down and I was starting to get very woozy and lose consciousness. Minutes. Why was that important? Was it important?

I came to with a start when my eema hit the ground. My four rescuers, at least I hoped that was what they were, had been joined by others. About a dozen blurs were in a loose circle, facing outwards from me. Their weapons moved slowly back and forth covering the area around us. We were at the edge of a small clearing in the forest.

"Summat there."

"Aye." Was the reply.

There was something outlined against the sky. Another frelling blur. Was I ever going to actually see these people?

There was a low hum, more of a vibration against my diaphragm than a sound. Suddenly the hum died and the frelling blur stopped in the clearing. Wee Wullie slung me over his shoulder as someone screamed, "Move! Move!"

As we ran to the blur in the clearing, a hole suddenly appeared in the blur. No! Not a hole, a hatch. This must be the transport, camouflaged like the soldiers around me. We pounded up a ramp and into the spartan interior of a small craft.

"Clear! Clear!" Someone yelled. "Go. Go. Go."

I was dumped unceremoniously, but fairly gently onto a stretcher.

"Sarn't Tefler, get everyone strapped in. Send Andrews and Hepburn up front to give the gunners a hand. Where's Grant? Corporal Grant?"

"Here, sir." called a female voice. "Just getting my kit ready for my patient."

A blur knelt beside me. Then she pushed a hood off of her head to reveal a round and friendly Sebacean face. She had pale skin, dusted with freckles and very short red hair.

"Now just relax while I look you over." She said with a concerned smile. She had an oversized glove on that made her hand seem twice its size. She ran it over me from head to toe. She stared at the back of the glove for a microt or two.

"I don't like the readings I'm getting for your nervous system. You may have some neural damage." She said finally.

"Yon bastid said sumpin' aboot damagin''er brain." called an unfamiliar voice.

"I'm going to give you something to put you to sleep." She said.

I tried to tell her no. I tried to tell her that I had to find my husband and children. Something cold pricked the base of my neck.

"Put a damned blanket over her, Grant." Was the last thing I heard.

People talking. People talking very far away.

I opened my eyes. Pipes and wires above me. A ceiling on a ship?

I was moving.

Very tired.

"She's awake."

Nothing.

I inhaled and exhaled slowly. I slowly opened one eye. I was lying on a bed in a small compartment surrounded my unfamiliar machinery. The metal walls, the steady hum of an engine somewhere and the stale air told me I was on a ship.

My brain finally seemed to be working properly. I had been picked up by someone looking for prisoners to interrogate. A perfectly normal operation. I had been on several such missions myself long ago when I was a Peacekeeper.

Who were these people though? Enemies of the people on the planet I'd been trapped on, most likely. But, that didn't make them my friends. At best, I'd be held until whatever operation they were planning was over. At worst…What had John said once? "Dead men tell no tales."

I decided that my best chance was to escape while they still thought I was unconscious. I swung my feet out of bed, stood up and fell flat on my face.

Frell! My frelling leg was still numb from the knee down.

I heard a noise in the corridor outside and tried to pull myself up. My hand was still numb.

"Dear me! Now you've gone and fallen, haven't you, Mrs. Crichton."

There was a woman standing in the doorway, dressed in baggy green clothes. She was small enough that I thought I could take her even in my present state. Her skin was a warm brown, but her arms seemed muscular enough. She smiled at me and walked forward, obviously not afraid that I'd try to attack her.

"Did you want some water, dear? Well, no need to get it yourself. Just ring the buzzer. The little button there by the bed. That'll call one of the nurses." She put her arms around my back and under my knees and easily lifted me back onto the bed. Maybe she wouldn't be that easy to take in a fight after all.

"Here's a glass of water, Mrs. Crichton." She said, holding out a cup she had filled.

"Ah! My patient has awoken at last." Boomed a voice from the doorway. This one I knew I couldn't fight. He wore the same shapeless green uniform as the nurse and had an even darker skin. However, he looked more like an Isillion wrestler than anything else. His short thick legs bulged against the trouser he wore. He had a long, thick torso and very long arms that were corded with muscles. However, he was smiling happily at me.

"Here, now. Let me take a look. I'm Surgeon-Major M'Boya, by the by, your doctor. The young charmer who's been looking after you is Captain Cromwell." He pushed some sort of control and what was obviously the outline of my body appeared on a screen beside my bed.

"Hmmm!" he said, vigorously massaging his shaved head as he checked the lettering running along the screen.

"Very good, Mrs. Crichton. You should have the full use of your leg back in another two or three days and your hand should be fine by tomorrow. You appear to have suffered no lasting neural damage, but I'm going to have you examined again in a week just to be sure."

I stopped and stared at him. Minutes. Days. Weeks. These people were speaking English. I tried to push the translations the translator microbes had given me out of my mind and concentrate on the language. It was very oddly accented, but it was English. But not the English my John spoke. Who were these people?

Someone's head poked into the little room. "Herself was notified when the telltale light went on when Mrs. Crichton awoke. She's on her way."

"Alas! We'll all have to look busy now." M'Boya said with a laugh. The nurse joined his laughter.

I had no idea what they found to be funny, but it looked like I might get some answers. I didn't have long to wait.

She walked in and all I could do was stare at her.

I finally said something. "Frell me dead."

She had a generous mouth that was split by a radiant smile. Above that was a generously sized nose, high cheekbones, a pair of grey-blue eyes with thick eyebrows above them and a mane of coal black hair. She wore a pair of tan pants tucked into a pair of well worn, but highly polished, brown boots. Over a black high necked shirt she wore a green jacket with what looked like some sort of insignia on it.

She strode forward and hugged me. "Welcome, Aeryn."

More than twenty cycles ago John and I and our friends had been chased by a pair of Peacekeeper warships. Unable to outrun them, we decided to try a slingshot maneuver around a long dead planet. But, what we had thought was a planet was actually an incredibly ancient planet-sized machine that used a quantum singularity to provide a gateway between our universe and another one.

We had been shot into this other universe along with the two Peacekeeper ships. Our engine was damaged, but theirs had been destroyed. We headed for the nearest habitable planet while the two Peacekeeper ships had started using their transports to ferry their surviving personnel to the same planet. If we could just avoid them long enough to repair our engines, we could leave them far behind.

The planet was called K'hiff as were its natives. The local K'hiff were well enough armed, but didn't appear to be a serious threat to two shiploads of Peacekeepers. Then we found that a human army was on the planet. How the frell could that be? John's people could hardly get into orbit over their own planet. They had no interstellar capabilities at all.

We soon found out we were wrong. We had crossed into a different universe and traveled a thousand cycles forward in time. We were in a universe that had no Peacekeepers, Luxans, Hynerians, Delvians, Nebari or any other race I had ever heard of. They did have an endless supply of humans. Humans had spread out over the galaxy, occupying any habitable worlds they came upon.

There was indeed a human army on the planet, composed entirely of mercenaries. These humans were nothing like the pitifully armed soldiers I had seen when I had visited Earth with John. They were also very different from Peacekeepers.

Peacekeepers depended upon their warships, Marauders and Prowlers to soften up their enemies. Once that had been accomplished, lightly armed Commandos were landed to mop up any remaining resistance.

Humans had warships, too. But none were around the K'hiff system when we arrived. What were there were heavily armed and armored ground forces like Colonel Alois Hammer's mercenary armored regiment. One hundred and seventy ton fusion powered tanks had run over the Peacekeepers with very little trouble.

Most of the Peacekeepers chose to fight to the death rather than surrender. One Peacekeeper Prowler pilot had been captured and had decided to live. She had taken the advice of a Peacekeeper renegade and decided she'd try to be more.

"You're Aida Borzon!" I gasped.

Her smile broadened. "I'm Aida Borzon O'Donnell. You're not the only former Peacekeeper to marry a human."

"Frell me dead." I repeated, stunned. Then her words sank in and I remembered what I needed to do.

"Aida, you have to help me look for John and my children. If you can loan me a weapon and transport me to the planet, that would be fine. But you have soldiers. If you could allow some to come with me….."

My heart sank when she waved me to silence.

"In a while, Aeryn." She said.

"I don't have time. Please. Just a weapon and transport to the planet. I swear to you…"

"Aeryn, I have every intention of raiding that frelling planet and liberating everyone there. Please! Just wait for a while and trust me."

I nodded. Suppose John was being hunted now as I had been? How could I wait? Did I have a choice? 


	2. Chapter 2

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Two  
By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

Aida turned to the doctor. "Is Mrs. Crichton well enough to have breakfast with me in my quarters?"

M'Boya glanced at the readouts one more time and nodded. "If she stays off that broken ankle."

In a few microts I was being pushed by the nurse through the ship in some frelling thing called a wheel chair. It had no wheels and it appeared to operate more like Rygel's hoverthrone. I took the opportunity to look around. The ship seemed to be quite large and the uniformed crew were well disciplined and, I was sure, military.

I was pushed into a small office with a dozen or more uniformed humans jammed into an equal number of workstations.

A muscular blonde looked up from whatever task she had been doing. "Mr. Vergraah is in your office, ma'am. Chief Mario says he'll have Mrs. Crichton's breakfast within three minutes. Meanwhile, he's put out coffee, tea, cocoa and orange juice."

The nurse pushed me into Aida's office and left. Aida sat behind her desk and motioned to a group of pitchers lined up on the edge of her desk, each with a glass in front of it.

"Isn't cocoa a type of chocolate?" I asked.

Aida nodded and reached for a pitcher and mug. She poured the hot, brown liquid out and handed me the mug.

"And you can help yourself to the tea, Rudy. I have no intention of serving you." She did say that with a smile and Rudy smiled back.

"I'd hardly expect you to." He replied, nodding to Aida.

While he poured himself some tea, I studied him. He was a K'hiff. He was from a race that had been descended from something like Earth dogs. He was covered with short brown fur and had a long snout. His mouth was filed with sharp teeth, but he was smiling at me. Instead of the robes I had seen on K'hiff, he wore what resembled what humans called a "suit." Blue trousers with a matching blue coat, a white shirt and a floppy red bow tie completed his clothing.

When he had poured his tea, be turned and bowed to me. "Rudyard Kipling Vergaah, your servant, Mrs. Crichton."

"Your first two names are human, aren't they?" I asked.

Aida laughed. "So they are. Rudy is our political, economic and diplomacy expert."

My eyes narrowed. "Will he be trying his diplomacy on the planet I just left?"

Aida shook her head. "I told you. I intend to free all of the prisoners down there and then hang all of the bastards running the place."

It was Rudy's turn to shake his head. "What Vice-Marshall O'Donnell means to say is that a court martial will be convened under the Laws of War to mete out any punishment that may be required."

"As I said, they'll be hung. For a pirate, you're starting to sound squeamish." Aida replied.

We were interrupted by Chief Mario with a cart piled high with enough food for a squad of starving Luxans. Mario himself was a slim, precise man with a neat mustache and black hair slicked back. The cart was lowered until it slid neatly over my chair and formed a table. The Chief identified food he had brought, most of which I remembered from my trip to Earth so long ago. Scrambled eggs. Sausages. Hash brown potatoes. Bacon. Fruits.

I found that I was very hungry and began eating before the Chief was finished loading my plate.

When I had taken the edge off of my hunger, I looked up at Rudy and Aida. "Why did you call Rudy here a pirate? He hardly looks like one."

Rudy laughed. "I'm afraid, Mrs. Crichton, that I started my career as a pirate. That's how I ended up here."

"You're pirates?" I asked, suddenly suspicious.

"No. No indeed." Rudy said laughing. Aida seemed to find that funny as well. Not that I cared. If they'd help me find John, they could kill and eat the frelling people on that planet for all I cared.

Rudy cleared his throat. "I was born on K'hiff, of course. You and your husband were near Thursday's Landing where most of the humans congregate. I was born far to the south and west, on a small island in the Scented Sea. We lived by fishing mostly, with some farming and domestic animals. When I was about fifteen years of age, the fish stayed away from our island and a long heat wave killed our crops and our animals. We were starving. The elders decided to raid a nearby merchant vessel. There were many of us compared to the crew of the ship."

Rudy sighed. "Things did not go as we planned. We had several boatloads of males, including me. I was big for my age and could handle a spear. That's all we had for weapons, spears and swords."

"The merchant ship traded with Thursday's Landing. They were equipped with weapons that human traders had provided. Oh, nothing as deadly as the weapons you're familiar with, Mrs. Crichton. The weapons' design was quite antique by human standards, but they shot us to pieces. Only two boats escaped out of five."

Rudy stopped for a microt and sadly shook his head at the memory. "I had been wounded in the first volley. My leg was broken and I was knocked to the bottom of the boat. That probably saved me from further wounds. The merchantman sent a boat over to see who we were and took me back as a prisoner. I was the only survivor on my boat."

"I was interrogated aboard the merchantman and my tribe noted. Since I was too badly injured to bother with otherwise, they were about to chop my head off and nail it to the top of the mast as a warning to others."

"I was saved by the oddest looking creature I had ever seen. He had only a tiny patch of hair on his head and no snout that I could see. He lacked fangs or claws, for that matter. He was the most misshapen and deformed K'hiff I had ever seen." Rudy laughed softly. "He was a human, of course. Father James, an Orthodox Catholic priest whose Order, the Order of Saint Anthony, was dedicated to bringing the Christian God to non-humans. He spoke trade talk with the worst accent I had ever heard, but he offered to cure my leg if the merchant captain would let me live and if I'd agree to serve his God for a year after I recovered."

"Well that required no thought on my part. I said yes at once and the captain grumpily agreed. While Father James was valued as a teacher and medic with the merchant community, his religion and its tenets weren't so valued."

Rudy stopped briefly to pick a sausage off of my table and pop it into his mouth.

"Father James took me back to his mission. It was at a large trading port located nearly on Khiff's equator. I was quite surprised to find that my duties included going to school, an indignity that I had previously been spared. At first I resented having to sit with mere children to learn my letters. However, at the end of my year of service, I was quite the student. I stayed there for another local year, reading every book I could find and pestering Father James incessantly with questions. I sent money back to my village. I even became the assistant teacher and was quite proud of myself. "

Aida snorted. "Intellectual pride has always been Rudy's failing."

Rudy nodded. "I have also been able to teach ill-educated mercenaries such as Vice Marshall O'Donnell to use words of more than one syllable."

Aida laughed. There was no doubt in my mind that these two were friends.

Rudy went on. "I had considered taking holy orders myself by that time. I had become a Christian and took the Christian names Rudyard Kipling. He's an obscure human poet, but one of his poems was a favorite of Father James'. However, I was told that there was an opening in the church school at Thursday's Landing. I had been selected to fill that opening."

Rudy leaned back and stared at the ceiling, a wistful smile playing over his face.

"I was quite the yokel. Marveling at buildings of six or seven stories high. Gazing in awe at flying machines. Talking hesitantly to computers. My, my, my." He finished with a chuckle.

"But, I was determined to work hard and for four years I did. There never seemed to be enough hours in the day to learn all the wonderful things the Universe had to offer. Then one day, Monsignor Gallo called me to his office. I had won a scholarship at an off world college. I was to be the first of my race to leave my home world to study."

Rudy smiled and looked around at us. "I was very determined to make Father James and everyone who had befriended me proud. My scholarship was for four years at the Tudor Union University. When my scholarship ran out, I took any job I could get and eventually stayed there for eight years, securing a doctorate in political economy."

He sadly shook his head. "I fear that I had forgotten all about going into the priesthood. I often think I would have been happier as a simple parish priest."

"Like Cardinal Richelieu?" Aida asked innocently.

"Heathen!" Rudy sniffed.

Well, at least these two had seemed to have mastered the human art of talking incomprehensively.

Rudy continued. "On the Frontier, there is little in the way of law unless you are strong enough to impose it. I took a job with the Klaapedia Corporation, a very large concern, advising them of political and economic developments on the Frontier."

"Oh, for God's sake, Rudy. You were a damned spy." Aida interrupted.

"I was an analyst and then a case officer." Rudy shot back. "My last job for Klaapedia was as liaison with Colonel Edmund O'Donnell's Regiment in the campaign on Ain Jalut. When the other mercenaries hired by Klaapedia collapsed, leaving dear Aida and her husband at the mercy of their opponents, I negotiated a surrender that let them leave the planet honorably with all of their weapons and troops. I was advised by Klaapedia that I should have allowed O'Donnell's command to be exterminated, thereby absolving Klaapedia of the need to pay the colonel. Management was quite angry with me and it seemed a good time to change employers. I accepted a position with Colonel O'Donnell."

"Actually, Klaapedia send a couple of assassins after Rudy. His first position with us was hiding behind a combat car." Aida added.

Rudy nodded. "It would have been smarter in the long run to have handed me over to Klaapedia's thugs. I do fear that your soft heartedness will be the end of you."

Before Aida could reply, there was a knock on her door.

"Enter."

Another uniformed woman entered. She was tall. Slender with light brown hair done up in a typical Peacekeeper pigtail. "I've re-run our intercepts as you asked, ma'am." She said, handing Aida a sheaf of papers.

While Aida read the report, the officer turned and looked at me. Stared, actually. Finally she spoke. "You're Aeryn Sun Crichton?"

"Yes." I looked at her but didn't recognize her.

"I'm Colonel Kathleen O'Donnell. I've been hoping to meet you again for a long time."

My confusion must have been obvious. I had met only one human O'Donnell and that was Eddie O'Donnell. Who was this?

The colonel blushed. "How stupid of me. You don't remember me as Kathleen O'Donnell. When you met me I was Cadet Pertha Lekka. I was adopted by the O'Donnells."

The Sebacean name rang a bell. A large group of Peacekeeper techs had wanted to surrender to the forces of President Azzule, the local K'hiff leader. They had been afraid, not knowing if they could trust anyone in this strange and savage universe they had found themselves in. They had asked for Aeryn Sun to come and reassure them before they'd surrender. John and I had gone and met with their leaders, two elderly and long retired Peacekeeper officers. Admiral Kurta and Captain Neem had decided to die fighting rather than try to start a new life in this human run universe, but saw no reason their techs shouldn't surrender. Cadet Lekka had intended to die with them. As it happened, the Peacekeepers heard of the surrender negotiations and tried to stop them. Kurta and Neem died, Lekka didn't although she had been wounded. She had kicked a Peacekeeper off of one of the evacuation trucks just as he was about to shoot John, though.

"I do remember you. You saved my husband's life, Colonel."

"I what?" she said disbelievingly.

"When we were being chased by the Peacekeepers one of them jumped on the back of the truck we were in. he was about to shoot John when you booted him in the crotch from a stretcher. You don't remember?"

She shook her head. "Not a bit of it. I remember nothing until I woke up in a human hospital "

Aida broke in. "Aeryn, what do you remember about your abduction?"

"Very little, I'm afraid. I was with John and the children on a planet called Onetria. I walked into a shop and the next thing I knew, I was being unloaded from a transport pod, bare assed naked. That bastard your people killed broke my ankle, attached the tracker to me and told me I was his prey."

Aida nodded and shuffled the papers in her hand. "We've been in orbit for a little over a week. We've been intercepting their communications. I asked Kathleen to re-analyze the intercepts asking the computers to look for the words like "Aeryn Sun Crichton" or" John Crichton."

She looked at Kathleen. "Can you brief Mrs. Crichton?"

She nodded and took a microt or two to gather her thoughts. "The man who kidnapped you is Settiette Brissollino of Oom Kiep. He's the richest and most powerful being on his planet. He comes to this planet to relax. If you can call it that." She added distastefully. "When he got here he announced that he had captured the "infamous" Aeryn Sun Crichton and intended to hunt her. There's been an enormous amount of comm chatter about that ever since. There's been nothing about your husband or children. That leads us to believe he doesn't have John."

"You believe, but don't know." I said. There was no reply.

Kathleen reached over and tapped something on Aida's desk. A hologram schematic of the planet appeared. I stood up and staggered a step or two to get a better look. "The planet has no native inhabitants and is a long way from any inhabited planets or any spacelanes. As near as we can tell, it hasn't been given a name for security reasons, just navigational coordinates."

Kathleen tapped the desk again. The schematic changed to one section of the planet.

"There are one hundred and twenty seven separate compounds on the planet, spread almost entirely along this river valley. "

A river flashed blue on the map and a series of red dots appeared, one for every compound.

"One hundred and twenty seven rich, sadistic bastards who come here to do whatever they want to, with absolutely no limits. Hunting intelligent beings is a favorite, although they like gladiator games, plain old fashioned torturing, the kidnap and murder of their enemies, rape and even cannibalism. "

The hologram returned to the view of the whole planet. Kathleen went on. "There are thirty-one ships in orbit. From what we can tell, mostly armed merchant vessels and the occasional armed yacht. Communications intercepts shows there are thirty two compounds in full operation now. The rest are manned by cadres when the bosses aren't around."

I looked at the number of dots. "How many people are there down there?"

"Not many trained fighters. We estimate twenty or thirty for the compounds that are fully staffed, a half a dozen for the rest. Even on your private pleasure planet, you have to watch your back, I guess. The rest are slaves. They're not trusted with weapons, even if they decided to fight us."

I stared at Aida. "Do you have enough combat power to take these people? If John is on the planet, do you have the power to take these compounds before they kill John?"

That got a smile from Aida and Kathleen. Aida took over the briefing.

"The ship you're on is the armored cruiser _Agincourt_ , 44. No, that doesn't mean we have forty three more just like her. It means she has 44 offensive long range missile tubes as her main battery."

Aida tapped her desk and a hologram of a command carrier appeared. Next to it was a ship about three-quarters the length of the carrier. " _Agincourt_ is a bit smaller than a command carrier, but she's faster and I can pound a carrier with my missiles from well outside the range of a frag cannon."

A second schematic appeared. This ship was perhaps half the size of the carrier. "We also have _Tamerlane,_ 36\. _Tammy's_ a light cruiser. She can outrun a command carrier easily, but she'd have to get lucky to take one in a fight."

More, smaller, holograms appeared. "We have eight "J" class destroyers, each with twelve tubes: _Jupiter, Juin, Janus, Jackal, Jaguar, Jewel, Javelin_ and _Jawan_. And we also have twelve missile frigates. They're also 12s. Since they're less than half the size of a destroyer, they're little more than metal tubes packed with weapons and sensors with a crew fitted into whatever space is left over. They have hull numbers, but the names are entirely unofficial. We also have a half dozen or so unarmed but very fast couriers to keep in touch with our base."

"Very well, if you plan on blowing the planet to bits. You'll need soldiers otherwise." I said coldly.

Aida laughed. "Soldiers? Yes. That brings us to the assault carrier, _Marshall Soult_." Yet another schematic of a ship blinked into existence. "I think old Nicholas John-of-God Soult would have been pleased to command the five thousand troops we have aboard her, Aeryn. In any case, it'll be enough to take those bastards down there."

Some incomprehensible icons appeared next to the assault carrier. Kathleen took over. "Three armored infantry battalions, an artillery battalion, a support battalion and various company strength units. About the size of Hammer's Slammers, if less powerful."

Frell! When I first had seen Aida, I had assumed she was a refugee as John and I had been so many years ago when we had first met. Aida was in command of a powerful force. And where was her husband? What forces did he command?

I thought about it for a microt and then dismissed it from my mind. First and foremost I had find John and our children. Until then, the O'Donnells's intentions weren't my problem. Frell! Our universe had enough problems as it was. Human mercenaries could hardly frell things up more.

There was a chime and a mechanical voice intoned, "Staff meeting in ten minutes."

"Aeryn, I'd like you to attend the staff meeting with us."

Rudy nodded. "As long as she doesn't bend over." He said cryptically.

"What?" The three of us said in unison.

Rudy gestured to me. "Human hospital gowns seem to be designed to display a human's least attractive side."

Aida grinned. "You robe is open down the back Aeryn." She then turned on Rudy sternly. "Many males of many races have complimented me on my behind and I'm sure the same applies to Aeryn. Not that a Frontier barbarian could tell."

Rudy sniffed and muttered something about ugly hairless bottoms.

Aida called Chief Mario and in a few microts they had found me a plain, dark green workout suit for me. It fit perfectly, reminding me again how alike Aida and I were. Or were we?

I insisted on walking to the briefing room, which was only a few steps away. For my troubles, Aida, Kathleen and Rudy hovered over me like I was some aged and fragile Peacekeeper commander, hauled out of retirement to bore the troops stupid with tales of her long forgotten victories. Still, it was better than the frelling wheelchair.

A door opened and someone called. "Attention!" A dozen humans shot to their feet.

As she entered, Aida waved them back into their seats. Aida, Rudy, Kathleen and I sat at the head of a long conference table. Along one side were a half a dozen humans in dark blue high-collared uniforms. Along the other side were another half dozen dressed in the green and tan uniform that Aida and Kathleen wore.

Aida began abruptly. "I'm sure everyone knows who Aeryn Sun Crichton is by now. I want it clearly understood that the safe recovery of her husband and her children is a very personal priority of mine. If we don't find them here, we'll look elsewhere."

There were nods up and down the table. It was likely that half of them thought that looking for John and our children was a complete and useless distraction to whatever they had come here for, but no one said anything.

"Aeryn, Rear Admiral Nagumo commands our naval task force." Nagumo nodded at me. She was a small woman with a smooth, golden skin and close cropped white hair. Only her dark eyes gave away her age. There was a fold of skin in the corner of her eyes. I tried to remember what that signified with humans. Some frelling geographical distinction?

Aida went on. "Brigadier General Stoll is in command of our ground combat element, Assault Regimental Tactical Group "Szent Istvan". Stoll was younger and much larger than the admiral. He sported a shaven head and a truly monumental mustache. He smiled and nodded. "Lady Crichton, my pleasure."

Introductions over, Aida got to work. "What's the task force come up with?"

A holographic representation of the planet and its moons blinked into existence over the table. Just visible, were some blinking dots representing the ships in orbit.

Nagumo was blunt. "This is the biggest cluster fuck I've seen in my fifty years of service, ma'am. All of the ships are in a geosynchronous orbit over that inhabited valley. There are no surveillance satellites or anything on the other side of the planet. If we had the time, we could sneak up on them by keeping the planet between us and those ships and blow them to bits at point blank range. Most of them don't have anything more than basic navigations sensors active. There are only two running long range sensors, one is oriented towards the damned planet and the other is sweeping only dead astern of the ship. They're in no tactical formation that I can discern. Half of them can't shoot in any direction without hitting a neighbor."

"We've confirmed that two ships are cold iron." Nagumo glanced at me. "Mrs. Crichton, that means the engines aren't running at all. All but one of the rest are keeping the engines ticking over just enough to run life support and minimal ship's systems. My engineers have decided that the one that does have its engines up is running maintenance."

Nagumo stared hard at me. "Mrs. Crichton, unless these people have sensors, weapons and engines the like of which we've never seen, they're practically asking to be destroyed."

I thought for a microt and shook my head. "Our technology isn't greatly different from yours. My guess is that they know that any pirate or raider than comes by here is going to leave rather than face any kind of armed opposition. There are too many defenseless planets and ships around to loot for a pirate to risk his skin in an actual fight. For that matter, the local bad guys are more likely to come in quietly to sell their loot. Any local navies, and there are damned few this far out, can be scared off, or bought off, by the number of rich, powerful beings here."

"So?" Aida raised an eyebrow and stared at Admiral Nagumo.

Nagumo smiled. "Then they can be had. And we're going to have them." 


	3. Chapter 3

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Three  
By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

The admiral tapped the table in front of her. The hologram changed to one showing the planet and its moons from high above. "Our priority is to destroy those ships. If one gets away, and spreads the word that there's a nasty task force in this supposedly empty area, it could complicate things."

Rudy spoke up. "More than complicate things, if I may say so, Admiral. We do not want to get the reputation of just another rogue fleet out to raid anyone that attracts our attention. If we are to survive and prosper here, we need to show that we are a force for stability and peace. That means we'll want to present this raid to the waiting public on our own terms. If the next shipload of wealthy sadists shows up here and finds their palaces destroyed, their slaves freed and gone, and their wealthy neighbors hanging by their necks in the rubble, it will have a salutary effect on them. And, I doubt seriously that they would want any publicity. That allows us to present ourselves freeing abused slaves, punishing evildoers, and so forth. If we can find a nice telegenic female slave…"

Aida cut him off. "I'm sure you'll do us proud, Rudy. Just don't expect me to star in your propaganda epic." She turned to Admiral Nagumo. "Now, before Rudy can present us as the Saviors of the Universe, we need to destroy those damned ships. How?"

"Easily enough, I think." She gestured to the holo. "It'll take too long to go around to the other side of the planet and use it for cover. And we can't just come in at flank speed and start shooting. As big as our ships are, even if those bastards are all asleep over there, we're just too easy to spot. But I think we can use the planet's moons just as easily. The planet has three moons. You can see that we've named them Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Gamma's a little rock in a very high, eccentric orbit. But, Alpha is a nice sized moon about two hundred and seventy thousand kilometers out. Beta is a somewhat smaller moon at about one hundred and ten thousand kilometers out. This is what I propose..." She said, gesturing to the hologram.

What she proposed was simple, like most good plans. The task force would maneuver until Alpha blocked them from observation and then close with the larger moon and hide behind it. The missile frigates would wait for an arn or so until Beta passed between the ships in orbit and Alpha. They'd move out, keeping Beta between them and their target.

Admiral Nagumo smiled happily. "When they pass beyond Beta, they'll be in full stealth mode. Depending on what the flotilla commander sees, he'll either keep coasting in until he's on top of them, or if they spot him, he'll go to max acceleration and close on them as fast as possible. Either way, we should be able to launch one hundred and forty four missiles at thirty-one ships. Four or five missiles apiece at sitting ducks. The missile flotilla will start reloading and we'll pop out from behind Alpha to take care of anything that's left. But I can't imagine anything will be."

"Better to be safe." muttered Rudy.

Aida glanced at me, then Rudy and Kathleen and then nodded. "Looks good. What about ground combat, General Stoll?"

Stoll glanced over at the admiral and smiled. "My intelligence cell, under Captain Kadar has made some interesting discoveries."

The ground forces officer seated at the end of the table smiled. His naval opposite number buried herself in some papers as Admiral Nagumo glared at her.

Stoll went on. "The late unlamented Settiette Brissollino, had a brother with him on the planet, Vasa Corbellote, by name. Their lot don't appear to use family names." Stoll waved vaguely at the hologram that appeared. It was a younger and fatter version of my tormentor. "He's comming all over the planet trying to find out how his brother died. Well, he's comming when he isn't enjoying the party at what is now his palace. Mostly he's talking to one Goro Szchwanzhend. Goro is the bird who decided to come out to the middle of nowhere and find a planet where he could play hunter with intelligent beings. Over the years, he's made it into a quite profitable business. Corbellote's mentioned two cousins who are apparently on their first trip here."

"How old are these cousins?" Aida interrupted.

"Old enough to kill a few slaves in the backyard for practice." Stoll replied evenly.

"Old enough to hang." Rudy added.

Stoll continued. "If I could have your Guard company and the recon troop, Ma'am, for this operation?"

"What did you have in mind?"

The hologram changed again to a view of the river valley with the compounds marked. Now a few were marked as red dots and the rest as yellow dots. Two red dots started pulsing.

"Red dots are active compounds. Yellow dots have only skeleton staffs. I want to drop a company team on Corbellote's compound and another on Goro's. The remainder of the infantry, my sapper company and my scouts will be broken up into one or two platoon forces to cover the remainder of the occupied compounds. I assume you'll be going to Corbellote's compound, so I'll drop the Guards there. I'll go with the other company and meet Goro. When the company teams have taken their objectives, they'll head for the next occupied compound. Each compound we wrap up will free up a platoon or two to hit another compound, and so on." An odd set of symbols started flashing on the map.

"I'll have my artillery set up on this ridge where it can dominate almost all of the compounds. There'll only be three platoons out of artillery range and I'll give them more heavy weapons from the weapons companies. I'll also divide the tank company up into two-tank sections to support the infantry."

"That'll thrill the panzer boys." Someone muttered.

"What do you want with my recon troop?" Aida asked. "They're not armed or armored heavily enough to get in a firefight. They depend almost entirely on stealth. I don't want to get a highly trained recon troop killed."

General Stoll shook his head. "There are two compounds off in the woods, away from the main valley. Neither appears to be occupied by more than a handful of people. I just need someone to keep an eye on them."

Aida nodded. "All right."

Aida stood. "Now, people, I'm sure we all have a lot of work to get these basic ideas into an operational plan. Admiral, when can we attack?"

"Anticipating your approval, I've already started moving the task force to a position behind Alpha." Nagumo glanced at the time piece on her wrist." The missile frigates should pass Beta and begin their attack run in twenty two hours, ma'am."

Aida glanced at the general. "Sufficient time?"

Stoll nodded.

"Then let's be off."

As soon as we reached the corridor I put my hand on Aida's arm. "I'm going with you."

"Aeryn, that is not a good idea. You've been injured and…;"

"And you are not getting proper medical attention." Added the gruff voice of Dr. M'Boya. "Vice Marshall, I approved Mrs. Crichton to go for breakfast and to stay off of her ankle. Now I find her walking around attending staff meetings. I have not cleared her as having no neurological damage. I at least expect professional courtesy…"

Aida waved him to silence and smiled at him. "Guilty as charged, doctor. I leave Mrs. Crichton in your hands. Can someone get Aeryn her wheelchair?" She said over her shoulder. Aida batted her eyes at M'Boya. "I presume that by way of punishment that the next time I have a physical examination, your subordinates will leave their examination gloves in the refrigerator for an extra long time?"

M'Boya roared with laughter and pushed me away. I had to put up with a good half arn of fussing from Dr. M'Boya, but he finally decided that I had not damaged myself and that I was healing better than he had hoped. Really! What did he expect of a former Peacekeeper?

Later, I found myself alone in my bed. I still had no idea what Aida and her mercenary force were doing in this universe. I could ask, of course, and would have to eventually. But my first priority was finding John and my children. There was one good thing. While it could all be an act for my benefit, this didn't seem like an army bent on conquest and plunder. But why were they here? I sighed. Even if the O'Donnell's wanted to set themselves up as petty tyrants in the Uncharted Territories, a mercenary army could hardly be in the same league as the Peacekeepers, Scarrens, Luxans, Hynerians and other powers in our universe. Could they? Frell it. I needed to sleep.

I woke up the next ship's day and was asked if I wanted to eat with Aida. I did, of course.

"I don't blame you." Dr. M'Boya chuckled. "Hospital food has a deservedly bad reputation. Perhaps I can scrounge a few bites if I push you to Command myself.

I don't know what the doctor ate, but I found another massive plate of food awaiting me when I arrived in Aida's office. She and Kathleen were already eating.

"Just in time for lunch, Aeryn." Kathleen said around a mouthful of food. "Do you like prosciutto?"

I smiled at her and then turned to Aida. "I intend to go with you on this raid."

Aida shook her head. "Even if I get a medical release from Surgeon-Major M'Boya, which I admit I just might get, a combat zone is no place for convalescing. In addition, you are totally unfamiliar with our weapons, communications procedures, or tactical drills. You'd be in the way."

I glared at her. "I'm not proposing to lead your infantry in a frelling charge. I intend to stay back with you. I assume you won't be leading any charges?"

"No, I won't. And I won't be watching out for you, either, since you'll be on this ship. There's nothing you can do in a battle, Aeryn."

"There certainly is something I can do. I can find my husband and children. John and I have been together for decades. We know each other. If he is there, and I agree, he probably isn't, but if he is, he'll try to leave a sign for me. Something his guards wouldn't recognize but that I would."

"And you can do that once the fighting is over." Aida said in a strained voice.

"After a battle? After all the buildings have been shot up? After a company of soldiers has trampled everything?"

I was interrupted by Kathleen's laughter.

"Is something funny, Colonel O'Donnell?" Aida asked coldly.

Kathleen nodded and swallowed. "This is exactly like looking at my mother arguing with herself. One of you has to be the most stubborn person in multiple universes. Which is it?"

"My husband!" I growled at her.

After a microt I turned back to Aida in shock. She had said exactly the same thing. We both started to laugh.

Aida shook her head. "Kathleen, when we're done here, please take Aeryn to see Gunner Ismaili and have her outfitted for a trip planetside with us. I'll clear things with Doctor M'Boya."

A half an arn later, I met Gunner Ismaili. He was a type I'd met once or twice in the Peacekeepers. He had fought his first battle before most of the people in the task force had been born. He survived battle after battle and for decade after decade he remained a soldier. Medical science had kept him fit despite wounds and aging. However, finally, age and old wounds kept him out of combat and into a job in ordnance with the task force. For a Peacekeeper, being degraded to a Tech after having been a Warrior would have been an insult. Human soldiers were different.

Gunner Ismaili was a tall, lean man with no extra fat on him. His skin was dark and seamed with age and old wounds, but his hair and mustache were an iron grey. His face was split by a fearsomely hooked nose set over a grim slit of a mouth.

"I've been expecting you, Lady Crichton. If you'll step in here, please?"

I followed him through a hatchway. "I should advise you, Gunner Ismaili, that I have only one title, and that is Mrs. I realize billions of women share that title with me, but I am quite proud of it. Otherwise, people call me Aeryn."

Ismaili turned and gave me a tight smile. "Aeryn. I suppose even Mrs. Crichton is rather formal. I'm Tewfiq." He held out his hand and we shook.

"And this is what I have to get you ready for, Aeryn." He turned slightly and waved to some dull black contraption squatting in the middle of the room. On closer examination, it resembled a cross between a vacuum environment suit and a set of Peacekeeper armor.

Tewfiq slapped the thing affectionately. "There was a day when people went into combat using their own muscles, but no more."

"Gunner Ismaili was written up once for having a dirty bow and arrow, according to legend." Kathleen said with a smile.

Tewfiq ignored her. "Now they use powered armor. Pseudo-muscles allow you to carry around a suit of large-molecule bonded ceramic matrix armor, a 2 cm powergun with nitrogen cooling, and/or other weapons, a nice sensor, comm and AI suite, not to mention food, water and a medic kit."

Tewfiq glanced at Kathleen. "In spite of what some people will tell you, not everyone regrets the passing of the old days."

Kathleen made no reply, but arched an eyebrow.

"I just regret the old days are so damned long ago." Tewfiq muttered.

"Time for training, Aeryn." Tewfiq said. He pushed some control and the helmet lifted off and the torso of the suit split down the middle." You'll need to drop into the suit from the scaffold behind it. If you need any help, Colonel O'Donnell and I can help."

Well, I was not about to let anyone think that I wasn't fully capable of taking care of myself. I climbed up the scaffolding, hung by one arm and lowered myself into the armor. Once I was in, the torso closed up, but the helmet was left hanging behind my head.

"Easier to talk to you without the helmet, Aeryn. Now first we have to properly introduce you to the AI, the artificial intelligence."

I spent the next arn learning all of the systems that I'd need to operate the suit of powered armor. Both Tewfiq and Kathleen were surprised and pleased with my progress. I silently thanked whatever gods there were for Pilot's multi-tasking abilities.

At the end of the arn, the helmet was lowered and some simulations were displayed on the view screen inside the helmet. After showing that I could simulate firing my weapon, communicate, react properly to damage to the suit and understand orders, Tewfiq raised the helmet.

"Damned good, Aeryn Damned good!" He said with a smile. "Now, before we go on, do you have any questions? Anything at all?"

Actually, I did have a question. "The soldiers that rescued me weren't wearing power armor? Why?"

"You were picked up by SORT, right?" Tewfiq asked.

"She was picked up by a team from the Special Operations Reconnaissance Troop." Kathleen quickly clarified.

Tewfiq nodded. "There are a couple of reasons not to use power armor. The recon boys value stealth above all else. A team's too small to survive if they get into a heavy firefight. In order to have their camo suits blend in damned near perfectly with their background, and give them excellent sensors and a top flight AI, they need a power cell that weighs twenty-eight point six pounds. Their suits not only give them visual camouflage, but it reduces their thermal signature and even uses white noise to cut down on any sound they make. Most of them wear no armor at all, or at best ceramic mesh over the torso. They don't carry powerguns, either. They like weapons with less of a signature. All together a recon will carry about a hundred pounds of gear, half their body weight, or so."

Tewfiq patted the shoulder of the powered suit of armor. "You can do the same thing with powered armor, but it takes a power cell of seventy or eighty pounds. Even if you cut down the weight of armor, weapons, and other gear, your power cell runs out of juice pretty fast. And a power cell that heavy is harder to move around, and that takes more power. A vicious cycle. Plus the power cell generates heat that an alert enemy can pick up if you don't cool the exterior of the suit. And it makes noise and leaves really noticeable tracks. So, specialist recon powered armor suits were found to be bigger, bulkier, and easier to spot than a simpler camo suit. The bigger something is, the harder it is to stealth. The lander you got picked up by carries a dozen people. A platoon lander can carry fifty and is half the size. The difference is the size of the power plant." Tewfiq stopped for a microt. "Well, a stealthed lander moves faster, too. It has to."

I nodded. That all made sense. "You said there were a couple of reasons not to use power armor?"

Tewfiq nodded. "The big one is cost. Most top of the line mercenary regiments could afford to outfit a company at most in power armor." Tewfiq turned away and spat. "When the bastards that run things back on our side asked us, oh so politely, to come over here, they wanted to sweeten it for us. So they opened up their arsenals and gave us the best of everything, up to a point. Marshall O'Donnell's combat troops, infantry, combat medics, artillery FO's, combat engineers and sappers, and all the rest have power armor. The rest, anyone who might get caught by artillery, or infiltrators, or God forbid, see actual combat when things turn to shit, get lightweight un-powered armor."

Tewfiq reached behind me and pulled an armored suit from a rack. He held it out with one hand. "This'll keep stray shrapnel out, and give you fair comms, sensors and AI."

"Any other questions, Aeryn?"

I had lots of questions, but I wanted answers from Aida. I shook my head.

"Now, let's see how you walk."

In short, I didn't. When I took my first step, I fell flat on my frelling face. Tewfiq and Kathleen picked me up and I tried again. This time I managed to move almost a three denches forward. After a while I found I could move forward by stepping forward with my good leg and dragging the injured leg after me.

After a half an arn, I saw Kathleen looking at me with a sad expression I didn't like.

"Forget about it Kathleen. I'm going. If you want to stop me, you'd better bring all of your frelling power armored infantry to try to stop me."

Before she could say a word, Tewfiq bellowed. "Corporal Gupta, get out here." From somewhere there was the sound of movement and shortly a short, solidly built young man appeared. His round, dark face was split by a smile. His left arm ended in a bulky metal canister of some sort. "Yes, Gunner Ismaili?"

Tewfiq turned to Kathleen with a wide smile on his face. "It seems to me that if Aeryn had a couple of likely lads to look after here, she'd do just fine."

Kathleen frowned. "And the likely lads would be?"

Tewfiq waved at the other soldier. "Lal's been working here while his new hand grows in. I'm the other likely lad."

Kathleen shook her head. "Neither of you are medially cleared for combat which means…"

"Combat?" Tewfiq said with exaggerated surprise. "I was told Mrs. Crichton was not to go into combat. Definitely not! Why I was told that she'd be so far from combat that she'd be able to have tea with Mr. Vergraah. What is the universe coming to when a poor old soldier is given inaccurate information by…"

Kathleen silenced him with a glare. "If you'll excuse me, I need to have a brief chat with Vice-Marshall O'Donnell."

Kathleen stepped out in the corridor and was back again within a few microts. "You three are going. But if you even see Rudy's back, you're too damned close to combat."

Tewfiq smiled like a redneck with his first pick-up, to quote a human I was in love with. I had always wondered exactly what that meant.

Tewfiq and Corporal Gupta headed off to prepare their own armor. I suspected that Tewfiq, at least, had his all ready to go.

Kathleen was kneeling in front of me, fussing with my armor.

"Can I ask you a personal question, Kathleen?"

She stood up. "Of course. Ask anything. You're one of my heroes, you know. Whenever I have a problem, I try to decide what Dad or Mom would do, or Admiral Kurta, Captain Neem, or you and John."

By the goddess! That was a shock. I wasn't sure that I had ever been a hero to anyone. Our children, perhaps? I went on.

"How did you end up being adopted by the O'Donnells?"

Kathleen laughed. "After you left, Dad, or Captain O'Donnell, as he was then, set about recruiting his own mercenary company. He wanted mom along, but he felt I should stay with the Antonine priests."

Kathleen scowled and growled in an odd accent, "Damn it all, gel. Combat's no place for a child. I was taught by the priests back on Donegal, it'll do for her."

She shook her head. "Mom knew that would never work. Having been raised as a Peacekeeper, she knew I'd head off with some mercenary company, or go exploring with the K'hiff traders and end up dead or someone's whore."

I smiled and nodded. "I bet your mother can be quite persuasive."

Kathleen laughed. "She was. And in two years time, when Dad asked Mom to be his wife, he insisted on adopting me. It was odd, at first, having a family, but I wouldn't change a thing now."

"Me either."

We were interrupted by Corporal Gupta. "The Vice-Marshall commed. She says you should both report to CIC. Things are starting to happen."

CIC turned out to be the combat information center. The center contained a huge holo of the planet and local space around it. Around the holo were three tiers of workstations, each with a human operator hard at work on some incomprehensible task. I took a seat behind Aida. Kathleen sat next to me.

She leaned over and whispered in my ear. "We have a couple of drones watching the planet, communicating with us on a very tight directional beam. The main display usually combines all of our sensor reading and intelligence, but anything can be put on the main display. Most of what you see is from the drones."

So far, all seemed well. The task force was approaching the larger moon, Alpha, and beginning to slow down. I was having trouble translating human writing and symbols, but it looked like we were going to make our rendezvous with Beta, the smaller moon.

"Engines at fifteen percent, Ma'am" Someone reported. "Vector is nominal. We'll keep our position relative to the enemy fleet and the moon. Missile frigates will pass over to behind Beta in eight minutes from….Mark"

"So far so good." Kathleen whispered.

I didn't feel that good. As the holo icons representing the frigates passed us on their way to the small moon, my imagination took over. Suppose John and the children were held aboard one of those ships? What if they were on the planet and a missile missed its target and vaporized them? What if….

I managed to control my imagination but it was an effort. If I kept on like this, I'd never do anything and I'd be of no help to anyone.

"Missile frigates are now behind moon Beta. Drones report no change in enemy ship's status."

"How long?" I whispered to Kathleen.

"The frigates are going a little faster than planned. Say fifty minutes."

I sat quietly. From all that anyone could tell, I was completely calm and in control. Inside, my mind went over all the things I should have done to prevent my kidnapping. All of the things I should have done on that frelling planet.

When was the last time I had told John I loved him? Suppose he had no idea where I was? Would he think I had abandoned him? I had mistreated him before, but that was before we were married. He'd realize I must be in trouble, wouldn't he? He'd get the children to safety first, of course. He had to think of them first.

"Aeryn?"

"Yes, Kathleen? What is it?"

She gave me a concerned look. "I just told you that the frigates will pass beyond Beta in thirty seconds. It's closer to ten seconds now."

"Task Group Fox has now passed Beta." A mechanical voice announced. "TG Fox is one one zero thousand miles from target and still in stealth mode. Drones report no change in enemy fleet status."

The frigates seemed to crawl towards their prey. I was starting to get, what was John's expression, "antsy".

Kathleen squeezed my shoulder. "Don't worry, Aeryn. Everything is going to be okay."

Frell! Were my nerves that obvious? What had happened to all of that Peacekeeper training?

"What if a ship gets away? What if John is still free somewhere and they hunt him down?" I whispered.

"The frigates could have fired as soon as they passed Beta. It's past normal range, but against an enemy that's almost asleep, the missiles could be programmed to run slower but further. And, they're only a minute or so from maximum missile range. It'll be okay."

I stared at the holo icons, willing them to close faster with the enemy.

Maximum range was reached and the frigates went on. Then they reached optimal range and still they were undiscovered.

"God!" Whispered Kathleen. "They'll be at point blank range before anyone spots them."

That was the wrong thing to say, apparently. 


	4. Chapter 4

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Four  
By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

"Communications spike from enemy fleet. They're talking to each other." Someone said.

"Message incoming." Added someone else.

There was a burst of static followed by an angry voice. "Unidentified ships. Haul off right now. Do you know who the frell you're dealing with?"

Unfortunately for him, we knew exactly who we were dealing with.

A half a dozen voices seemed to be talking at once, with communications in the background.

"Task Force Command reports all ships under way, headed towards the enemy."

"TF Fox is accelerating and is lighting up the enemy with active sensors."

"Veer off, you frelling morons. Do you know whose planet this is?" There was a note of panic in the voice now.

"Firing solutions in ten seconds…nine…eight…seven.."

"We're getting feed from L-319, _Hellzapoppin_." Aida barked. "Put it on the central display."

Suddenly we were looking at the very crowded bridge of a ship. In the background a voice finished counting down to zero. The _Hellzapoppin's_ bridge view screens were lit up by the flashes of 144 missiles headed for the enemy.

My attention went back to _Hellzapopin's_ bridge shown on the main holo. The commander was shouting orders.

"All ships, reload. Defensive weapons are unlocked and free. Sensors, what's headed our way?"

There was a slight delay. "Sensors, dammit, what's incoming?"

"Not one damned thing, sir. And they aren't doing squat about our missiles. No counter missiles, no energy weapons, no electronic counter measures, no nothing. Shit, they aren't even giving us the finger on the view screen."

There was a round of quickly stifled laughter in the CIC of _Agincourt_.

The holo was returned to a view of the battle as a whole. The enemy fleet was at last starting to react, but with no plan or discipline. I saw a ship begin to move forward, oblivious to the fact that another ship was blocking it. In microns it rammed the other ship and the two were hopelessly entangled.

Another ship opened fire with whatever weaponry it had. It did manage to hit several ships around it, but nothing had come hear our missiles or ships. I saw several ships boats were quickly leaving heading to the planet. One was destroyed by the wildly firing enemy ship. Other boats and survival pods headed for the planet.

"Detonation in ten." Announced a bored sounding mechanical voice.

Human missiles used a detonation X-ray laser. At the moment the warhead exploded, a small amount of the energy was focused on the target as an X-ray laser. That is a small amount of energy as thermonuclear explosions go. That was enough energy to punch through a heavily armored warship.

144 warheads detonated, momentarily blinding our sensors. For a few microns there was silence.

"Clean sweep." Someone said.

"A couple of their ship's boats may have been far enough away to escape destruction. "

"Most of their fusion bottles must have breached, maybe all of them. I'm reading a debris field that consists mostly of vaporized metal." Someone else added.

"Any friendly casualties?" Aida asked.

There was a brief pause. "A cook on _Tamerlane_ scalded himself with hot coffee when they accelerated past Alpha."

"Jesus!" Was someone's response.

Aida stood up. "All right, everyone. That's the first part. Now we have to drop a regiment on an unfriendly planet. Admiral Nagumo, if you'd replace me in CIC, please? I'll be with the Guards."

Aida stood and walked out of the CIC. Kathleen quickly followed her. After a micron, I did the same.

Kathleen led me back through a maze of passageways to Gunner Ismaili's office.

"Colonel! Aeryn!" Ismaili grinned at us. He was in his armor, but his helmet was hanging behind his neck. "Corporal Gupta and I have been playing with your power armor." I assumed Gupta must be inside the closed down armor beside Ismaili.

"Playing?" What the frell was wrong with humans?

Ismaili nodded. "We re-jiggered the control software. If you move slowly, you can move your bum leg using a control operated with your left little finger. If you have to move at anything faster than a rapid stagger, Corporal Gupta and I'll have to carry you. Suit up then step forward with your good leg, and then flex the left little finger."

I did so and managed to take a slow step forward. I tried a few more times and decided I just barely could walk.

"We did something else, Aeryn." Ismaili tapped some sort of control on the outside of my armor. "Check the readouts displayed on your viewscreen."

Centered over Ismaili and Gupta's helmets was a small orange rectangle filled with numbers, letters and symbols. Being human, they made no sense to me.

"Okay, those are standard icons. When you are line of sight with someone, the icon appears over the helmet. The standard icons identify the unit, the weapon the trooper is carrying, whether he's wounded, and a lot of other crap you don't need to learn." He tapped the armor again. Now the names "ISMAILI" and "GUPTA" appeared over their heads.

"When they're armored up, you'll see the name Kathleen over the Colonel's helmet and Aida over the Vice-Marshall's. For everyone else, you'll just get the standard icons."

I nodded. "Thank you. That'll be a big help."

Ismaili laughed. "Wouldn't want you to change your mind and have me stuck on this damned tin can while everyone else gets to dance."

Kathleen got into her armor and the four of us set off through more endless corridors to the landing craft bays, I found that instead of walking in a straight line, that I lurched just slightly to the left. As narrow as the corridors were, that meant that I would hit a bulkhead about every ten steps.

I managed to compensate by twisting to one side every five steps. I felt like a clumsy cadet, but I kept going.

Finally, we walked up a ramp and into the belly of an assault lander. Rather than sit, as we would have done in a Peacekeeper transport, we remained standing and our armor was locked onto a metal bar that swung down from above.

Several space-suited lander crewmen raced through the packed bay checking some frelling thing or another.

"Miz Cray-ton?" said a voice in my ear.

"Yes."

"Gunner Ismaili as't me ta see ta ya. Now, you jist relax. Ah'm gonna tighten yer internal webbing, so's ya won't git bounced agin' yer armor, should sumpin' go wrong. Don't ya`worry none, I'll take her in slow like."

I felt something tightening around my limbs and torso and a piece of webbing dropped over my forehead and pulled my head backward.

"Kin ya`move?" asked the voice.

"Not a bit." I grunted.

"Number Four Five, good to go." The voice announced.

I sat there feeling like a dreelik in a hunter's trap. How the frell would I get out if something did go wrong?

Kathleen must have read my mind. "Aeryn, the straps will release as soon the rear troop door opens. Your armor will be released from the stanchion as well. There's an emergency release controlled by your right ring finger. Tap it and you should see the release menu on your head up display."

I tapped and studied the menu for a micron.

"Want to know what's going on?" Kathleen asked.

"Absolutely!"

Kathleen laughed. "I'm displaying a basic schematic of the landing on your display. _Agincourt_ and _Tamerlane_ are holding themselves over the inhabited valley. If they have planetary defenses, like heavy directed energy weapons, or anti-ship missiles, the two cruisers are the best armed and armored ships we have to slug it out. The destroyers and frigates will be behind us. They're too damned light for that kind of combat."

" _Marshall Soult_ is on the far side of the planet. She'll send her landers in on the other side of the planet and hug the ground until they arrive at the valley. Most of the Guard company went to _Marshall Soult_ hours ago. Once they're down, we'll land. All we have in this lander is our command team and one platoon for close protection. Clear?"

So, once again, I found myself sitting helplessly wondering if John sand the children were almost in reach but too far away for me to help. I watched the heads-up display and willed the icons representing the landers to go faster. They didn't, of course. The more I watched, the slower they seemed to go. The slower they seemed to go, the more time I seemed to have to imagine all sorts horrible tortures John and the children were undergoing, while their wife and mother sat helplessly. I had just promised myself that I would never again let John or the children out of my sight, when a voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Szent Istvan Command reports they are down. No, repeat no, losses on ingress. Contact is reported as very light and scattered. Fleet intel reports no sign of any planetary defenses. No missiles, no energy weapons, no sensors."

"Don't get better than that." Someone muttered.

"Silence!"

The original voice continued after a few microts. "Szent Istvan Command reports they've over-run eight compounds, but Alpha Green Five and Echo Red Two are giving them a problem."

"Can we land near Echo Red Two?" That was Aida.

"Affirmative, ma'am."

"Do it"

"Aeryn?" That was Kathleen.

"I'm right here. What is it?"

"Alpha Green Five is the main compound. The one where Goro, the owner of this hell hole lives. Echo Red Two is where Brissollino lived. And where his damned family is."

I swore softly to myself. I was doing that a lot.

In ten microts we were charging down the ramp of the lander. We headed through a nicely manicured forest over grass that looked like the front yards I had seen on Earth.

I reached the remains of a wall and peered over it. Ahead of me I could see a line of armored troops taking cover. I started to lift myself over the wall, but found myself being hauled back.

"What the frell?"

"Sorry, Aeryn, but this is as far as you go.' Ismaili said, not unkindly.

I swore again. Then I took a breath and tried to sound reasonable. "But we're nearly a mile away from the compound. You have to let me get closer. I can't see a frelling thing from here."

I could see Ismaili shake his head inside his helmet. "This is as far as you go. And my rangefinder makes it one thousand, one hundred and sixty yards to the compound."

Then Ismaili tapped the side of my helmet. "I'll give you a data feed from right up front. It'll be just like you're there."

It wasn't like being there, but it was close. The main compound building was a huge black rectangular block topped with a monstrous bright yellow dome. I could see no windows, just occasional weapon slits with most of the walls covered with vines, and blocked by trees growing near the building. In the center of the building were two enormous doors, at least three times the size of anything even a Luxan might use. I could see desultory fire from the troops outside, but there was no return fire from inside.

I was about to ask what the frell was going on, but I was cut off by an announcement over the comm., "Fire mission for Echo Red Two. Fire!"

I pushed myself up, only to be pushed back down.

"Artillery!" I screamed. "What if John's in there?"

Before I could say or do anything else, the area around the compound was lit up by hundreds and hundreds of bright flashes.

"It's okay, Aeryn," I heard Ismaili say. "That's popcorn."

Popcorn! For a microt, I had a mental image of Rygel. Then I remembered something from long ago on K'hiff.

Ismaili confirmed my memories. "The artillery shells dispense small oval shaped bomblets, they look a little like popcorn. And they do pop. All they're doing is blowing away the trees and vines and all that other crap."

I focused again on the compound. The vines had been chopped up and the trees were being reduced to kindling. Even the decorations on the building were being blown off. What was left were weapons' slits and blank walls.

Off to my left two hover tanks rose on columns of air and began firing at the compound's doors. Every other weapon in the area seemed to be firing on the building's weapon slits. Suddenly, one door sagged and then they both collapsed.

"Up and at 'em, Guards!" Screamed a voice over the comm.. The armored infantry rose and charged ahead, firing as they went. Fire from inside the building slackened and then ceased.

The first wave of assault troops fired a volley of some kind of large weapon into the gaping doorway. They threw themselves down, just as a series of blasts rocked the building.

"Now can we go?" I asked acidly.

"Sure, "Ismaili said with a laugh, "but we'll ride like ladies and gentlemen."

He waved towards our rear. Two more landers had arrived not fifty motras behind us. With all that was going on, I hadn't heard a thing. Two tanks were being driven down the ramp of one of them, while two boxy armored vehicles exited the other one.

"These are Vice-Marshall O'Donnell's command vehicles. Two command cars, "he waved at the boxy vehicles, "and two tanks."

Ismaili waved at the lead tank. "Need a lift for Colonel O'Donnell and her staff." He bellowed.

The tank slewed to a halt and an armored head poked out of the turret.

"Ismaili? What the hell are you doing here, pappy? Did someone decide this was an exercise?"

Ismaili snarled an obscenity. Before he could go any further, Kathleen broke in.

"Gunner Ismaili is here because the Vice-Marshall wants him here. Any problems with that?"

The tanker laughed. "None at all, ma'am. Climb aboard."

In a few more microts we were halting in front of the demolished doors and dismounting. The interior of the building was the sort of controlled confusion I remembered so well from my days as a Peacekeeper. There seemed to be no firing, just armored troopers shoving groups of civilians together in the massive entry hall. I could look all the way up to the golden dome a good six stories above me. Stairways led upstairs from to the right and left.

I almost stepped on a body. She had been a young and beautiful blonde. She was wearing only a diaphanous blouse with a large hole in it and her. Before I had a chance to feel sorry for her, I noticed a large pulse pistol a few denches from her outstretched hand.

I located the icon that said AIDA at the entrance to a hallway. The four of us headed for her.

"Fuckin' back off, people. Don't you listen?" Snarled a sergeant kneeling on the floor watching the hallway.

"Fuckin' back off, ma'am, I think." Kathleen said lightly.

"Uh, yes, ma'am."

"What's the hold up?" Ismaili asked.

"Female slave's at the end of the hall. She's got her daughter and has a knife at her throat. Says she'll kill the kid rather than let her live a slave's life. She's crazy. Don't realize she's been liberated."

"Shit!" Ismaili said with feeling.

Suddenly half of my display showed the woman at the end of the hall. She looked too young too be the little girl's mother, but under a lot of bruises she was beautiful. So was the little girl, but thankfully she had no bruises. Both were dressed in the sheer tops that seemed to be the sign of female slaves. The woman was screaming threats, but the little girl just stared ahead blankly.

"Where's the damned sonics?" Aida's voice said softly over the comm. "I need them here now."

"Right here, ma'am." Another armored trooper had come up behind Aida.

"Can you knock her down before she can stab the little girl?"

"Sure! You want it done now?"

"Of course now!"

Without saying another word, the soldier leaned his weapon out and fired, a sound like sheet metal being torn. Both the woman and her child dropped.

"No problem, ma'am." The soldier said as he trotted off.

Aida started yelling for a medic, and then headed for us when several medics headed for the unconscious pair.

"Combat over, ma'am? Ismaili asked.

"You'll be out of here before you know it if any fighting starts, Gunner." Aida shot back. "Meantime we have some good news. Corbellote's two idiot cousins are upstairs. Bito and Argolotte Corbellote. The bad news is that Corbellote went to see Goro at his compound. They're both holed up in there. Stoll's troops are taking them down slowly but surely."

The cousin's room was on the top floor, with glass on three sides. The room was dominated by an enormous bed. A naked young girl was sitting on the bed being tended to by a medic. By the goddess! She was no more than ten cycles old and sobbing continuously.

There were a dozen or so armored soldiers milling around the room, some searching, some just milling.

Two young Sebacean men were sitting on the edge of the bed. Each had a metal cap on their heads and a blank smile. To each side of them sat a soldier wearing un-powered armor with a small box on their laps.

"How's the girl? Aida asked.

"Not too bad, ma'am. It looks like they just got started with her. I think she's a clone, though. There are two more in the back room that look just like her."

"Why the frell aren't you helping them?" Aida exploded.

"Can't. There's no helping them." The medic replied softly.

"How's the interrogation going?" Aida turned to an armored soldier standing near the bed.

"We're getting the basics set up in the computer now, ma'am. We'll be getting some intel soon."

"This as an interrogation?" I whispered to Kathleen.

"Not exactly an aurora chair, is it? Human interrogations are a lot quieter than Peacekeeper's."

"So what is this?" I asked.

"The human brain is just a protein based computer run by low power electricity. You can pick up those electrical signals at very close range and amplify them. Before we had translator microbes, you had to speak your subject's language, which could cause problems on planets settled by oddball ethnic groups."

"And the subjects don't fight you?"

Kathleen laughed. "The interrogators shoot them full of a happy juice that comes from some planet off past High Brasil." She gestured to the two cousins. "Those two have never been happier in their lives than they are right now. They couldn't fight anyone off anything."

Kathleen suddenly stepped past me. "Corporal! Consumables only." A group of soldiers examining small bottles on a large dresser stopped and turned around.

One soldier answered in a soprano voice. "Ma'am, we think these are perfumes. Within regs, ma'am."

Kathleen nodded to Ismaili. "Gunner, will you check it out?"

Ismaili walked over and examined the bottles. "Seems to be perfume, ma'am."

Kathleen nodded. "The value of the containers?"

Ismaili shrugged. "A hundred Solars?"

Kathleen nodded again and the soldiers divided the perfume up between them.

"What was that about?" I asked her.

"Looting has been a problem with armies since the beginning of time. Commanders have been trying to stop it for just as long. Troops that are looting aren't doing their jobs. We pay well and on time. Our troops get the best equipment there is. They get the finest medical care. If they die, we pay their families a pension. If they become disabled, or last long enough to retire, they get a pension. But we still have problems with looting. So we institutionalize it. You can loot consumables. Anything you can eat, drink, smoke, or otherwise consume. Anything else of value is turned in and divided up after the campaign is over. It works most of the time."

"Ma'am?" Called an armored trooper from the doorway. "We may have something."

"What?" Aida, Kathleen and I asked at once.

"We have a slave in the main.." He began.

"You have a former slave, lance corporal." Aida cut in.

"Um, yes, ma'am. There's a former slave who says she was on the clean up detail for the prisoners held here. There's apparently a regular dungeon under this place, plus a hidden dungeon for special prisoners. Lieutenant Pellew is putting together some sappers and a doctor to check them out. He thought you'd like to know."

"He couldn't have commed this?" Aida asked sharply.

The lance corporal shook his head. "He's in a maze that the, um, servants here use to get around without bothering anyone. He thought you might need a guide to find him."

"Then guide away." She replied.

In a dozen microns we were through the maze and facing another dozen or so armored troopers. In their midst was a beautiful woman with sea green hair, wrapped in a blanket.''

"She's the one who told us about this, ma'am." Pellew said, putting a large armored hand on the woman's shoulder.

The woman fell to her knees and began banging her forehead on the floor. "Great Lord, do not punish me. I cannot open the door. Please! I beg of you."

"Christ!" Aida muttered. She reached down, put her armored hands under her arms and lifted her to a standing position." You will not be punished. I will reward you for helping us. We will reward all who help us." The woman kept bobbing her head and begging not to be punished.

Aida turned to one of the troopers near her. "Get her out of here. Have a medic check her and get her fed. And get some clothes on her."

"Ma'am?" One of the Guard officers said. "There's a metal door just around the corner. We have couple of sappers working on it."

Aida went around the corner. The four of us followed her.

"Sergeant Schell, isn't it?" Aida asked. "You were with us at Las Molinas de la Reina, right?"

The sergeant never took his eyes off of the door. A half a dozen small devices were attached to the door. What they were for, I had no idea.

"Yes, ma'am. This'll be a lot easier to get into though. It's big and tough looking, but all it's meant to do is keep out stray dogs and the idle curious. Nobody ever figured anyone like us would come a calling."

"Aha!" Someone said over the comm.

Sergeant Schell pulled down a heavy lever and the door slid silently open.

"We go first, ma'am." Lieutenant Pellew said. He and a dozen or more armored troopers stormed past us and down some stairs. Once again I was left standing while other people looked for John and our children.

"All clear down here, ma'am. Pellew said over the comm.

I hurried down the stairs and came to a dead stop at the bottom. No, it couldn't be... 


	5. Chapter 5

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Five  
By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

"It's a woman, ma'am." Someone said. "Or what's left of one."

What was on the table was just raw meat and blood, plugged into a dozen or so machines. The soldier next to the body introduced himself.

"I'm Surgeon-Major Delacroix. You're Mrs. Crichton.?"

I nodded.

"It's not your husband, ma'am. I did a quick and dirty DNA check on her. No human DNA at all. She's not your daughter either."

I nodded again and let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding.

"What the hell is this, Doc?" That was Aida.

The doctor shook his head. "Apparently if anyone ever did that bastard Brissollino any crap, he'd get back at them. Kidnap them, haul them out here and torture them to death. He kept nice, complete records of it all. Intel's sending someone down to check them. At least we'll be able tell the next of kin what happened here. Maybe find some of the people that helped."

"What about her?" Aida asked.

"She's being kept alive by machines. He left enough of her brain intact to be able to feel pain, that's about it."

"Could we fix her?"

"No." Was all Delacroix said. He reached for a blue lever by her head. "This will turn off the machines."

Aida reached out and blocked his hand. "You keep 'em alive, doc. I'll do the killing here." She pushed the lever down. The machines slowly shut down. The woman twitched once and was still.

The rest was anti-climactic. There were another fifteen prisoners in cells. All had been beaten and abused, but all would live. None were my husband or my children. I leaned against a wall. Where the frell was John?

"Aeryn?" That was Ismaili. "Didn't you hear the comm?"

I shook my head to clear it. What the frell was happening to me? "No, I'm sorry. What is it?"

"Another team checked the other dungeon. All the people in there were slaves sent there to be punished. None of your family is there or in the regular slave barracks."

I looked around. "Where did Aida and Kathleen go?"

"They found Brissollino's body upstairs. Apparently they were all set to give him a big send off tomorrow. They had plans to kill a whole bunch of slaves with him. So he'd have someone to get him ice water in the hereafter, I guess. Instead we're going to hang his body on his front porch. "

"Interrogators are done with those two cousins of his. All they know about you or your family is that they were going to get to use you after the adults were done. Nothing else. The Vice-Marshall sent a couple of officers up to run a Field Court. When they're done, we'll hang them."

Ismaili, Gupta and I headed back upstairs. We got there just as Brissollino's body was being hoisted by a crew of former slaves.

"They don't seem very happy about it." I said, looking around.

One of the troopers heard me. "They be slaves long time. Mos' since birth. They be scared of them bastards mos' the rest of their lives, mos' like."

Ismaili noticed something. "How come we got three groups here?"

The trooper pointed to the largest group, a collection of shabbily dressed ex-slaves. "Biggest group be unskilled. They be gardeners, cleaners, work in kitchen,that sort." He pointed to a smaller group of ex-slaves. "They be skilled. Chefs, flower arrangers, gotta painter to paint pictures of the big shot, and one whole buncha whores."

The smallest group were well dressed and seemed the most unhappy. "They be free. Employees they be. Accountants, security, doctors, nurses, comm specialists, computer jocks, and another buncha whores."

We were interrupted by a group of armored troopers coming down the stairs, carrying Bito and Argolotte Corbellote. Both of them were giggling uncontrollably.

An officer saluted Aida. She saluted back.

"Ma'am, a Field Court has been convened under the Laws of War. The Court considered the cases of Bito and Argolotte Corbellote. Based on evidence provided by the accused, they were convicted of four counts of murder, five counts of rape, and five counts of enslavement."

"Did the court find any mitigating circumstances?" Aida asked coldly.

"No ma'am. The Court specifically noted that enslavement calls for a mandatory death sentence."

Aida raised her voice. "Death sentences are hereby approved by Aida Borzon O'Donnell, Vice-Marshall, Human Forces Command."

She lowered her voice. "Kathleen, any reason we ought to postpone the execution? Any intel we can get out of them? Any use as hostages?"

Kathleen shook her head. "It's amazing how little of anything those two cretins knew, except they were rich and powerful and thought they could do what they wanted. And everything we've gotten indicates no one else cares if these two live or die. Go ahead and hang the bastards."

That was that.

Aida turned to me. "Aeryn, General Stoll is grinding Goro's compound down. He's got a reinforced battalion on it. The good news is, he took Vasa Corbellote prisoner, he's got Goro pinned down and he's damned near close enough to hose them down with sonics. Lastly, there's no sign of any of your family and none of the people we've interrogated know anything about them. It looks more and more like they aren't here."

"But you're not sure." I responded.

"No, but we're still trying." She pointed to where a trooper was talking to the employees.

"Okay, Faldel the Archivist, speak up!" He bellowed. "Faldel, get your ass out here and talk to me."

"Yes?" Falda shuffled a few steps toward the sergeant. He was a Sebaceanoid from the same race as Volmae. He had the same pasty white skin, red eyes, and stringy light hair. He was dressed in what looked like striped sleeping garb.

"Watch your frelling mouth, Faldel." Growled another one of the prisoners. This one was short and heavily muscled, with his hair and beard oiled and curled in the manner of a Yfarri gunman.

The sergeant's armored arm shot out, grabbed the thug by his belt and lifted him off of his feet. The sergeant shoved the muzzle of his power rifle under the thug's chin and pulled the trigger. The head disappeared in a spray of super-heated bone, blood and brains. The rest of the thug flopped lifelessly onto the floor.

"You're a computer jock, right, Faldel?" The sergeant asked in a cheery voice.

Faldel nodded, making every effort to avoid looking at the headless corpse sprawled in front of him.

"As a matter of fact you're the main computer jock, right? Now you want to help us get past the security lock-outs on the computer, I bet? Cause if you do, we'll let you loose on a nice planet with a load of jingle in your pocket. Sounds good?"

Faldel stared at the sergeant. "Jingle?"

The sergeant nodded vigorously. "Jingle, cash, gelt, money, the necessary, loot. Understand?"

Faldel looked interested. "How much….jingle?"

The sergeant shrugged. "All you can carry. Get you a bag, fill it up with whatever you want. Then carry it out. Only two rules. One, you can't take any documents or such that intel wants. Two, you got to carry the bag all by yourself."

Faldel nodded. "I know where there are hidden safes. I can open them. Lots of jingle. Most of the intelligence is in the computers. I can give you access to all of it."

The sergeant put his arm around Faldel's shoulder and walked him away from the prisoners. "Faldel, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

I looked at Kathleen. "Are you actually going to let that bastard leave with a bag of jingle? How do you know he won't be back at someplace like this murdering little girls?" I snapped at her.

I could see information being projected onto the display on Kathleen's visor. Then she spoke. "According to our interrogations, Faldel's problem is gambling. He's working here in preference to having several body parts removed by a very angry gambling kingpin on his home world. Faldel tried to skip on his debts. As a matter of fact, we're planning to introduce Faldel to a game called poker. With any luck, he'll be broke and needing a job by the time we get to a commerce planet. Then he can make the local computers sing and dance for us."

That satisfied me. Kathleen and I followed by Ismaili and Gupta headed back outside.

A gob of spit landed in front of Kathleen's armored foot. She turned to face the prisoners.

There was no question whom the spitter was. The rest of the prisoners backed away from him. He stood with his arms folded over his chest, staring disdainfully at us. He was Sebacean, maybe even an ex-Peacekeeper. Tall, well muscled and dressed in black, he gave off an aura of competence and contempt.

"Expressing your opinion of us?" Kathleen asked softly.

He nodded. "You do nothing but use machines to kill. You yourselves are not dangerous. Only your machines."

"You're different?" She asked, her voice still soft.

He nodded vigorously. "I am Kufra of Yan Dol. I am the Master Hunter of Clan Pekarchi. I was the student of Huran, who taught me all he knew and then arranged for me to study off planet. When I was fifteen cycles old I killed a vammit with only a knife. I jammed my forearm into the beast's maw and stabbed his head, even as his teeth ripped my flesh."

Kufra babbled on for another microt or two until Kathleen stopped him.

"Okay, so the bottom line is you're not impressed with us. So?"

Kufra smiled widely. "So I challenge you. Give me a metra head start before loosing your machines on me. Once I reach the trees, I will disappear like a puff of smoke. All of your machines will not locate me. And when you leave, I will wait for the next ship to arrive here. Then I will hunt you."

Kathleen laughed and slapped Kufra lightly on the shoulder. "Done! Your challenge is accepted." She turned to Ismaili. "You up for this, Gunner?"

Ismaili nodded. "I'm up for it. And, it isn't combat, is it?"

We walked outside, trailing a growing mob of spectators. From what I could hear from the comms, most of them were placing bets. Ismaili was the favorite, but Kufra had his supporters.

"Gupta." Ismaili growled into the comm. "Keep track of who's betting against me. I'll want to talk to them later."

Kathleen stopped and gestured for Ismaili and Kufra to stand by her. "My range finder makes it one thousand and eight meters to that large stump. It's another forty or so meters to the forest. Close enough to a metra for you, Kufra?"

Kufra stared intently at the distant stump and then nodded. "A bit over a metra."

"Okay, Kufra. Anytime you want, head for the trees. Gunner Ismaili will stand right here by me. He won't do anything until you pass the tree trunk Nobody else will do anything else either."

Kufra started jogging towards the forest. He ran with a long, easy stride, saving his strength for the forest when he'd have someone on his tail.

I watched him through my viewscreen, increasing the magnification as he got further away. Every once in a while I'd glance over to Ismaili who was standing quietly beside Kathleen.

Kufra reached the stump and put on a burst of speed. Out of the corner or my eye I saw Ismaili bring his power rifle to his shoulder and fire. In the viewscreen, I saw Kufra fall. He got up and hopped towards the forest. One leg ended in a bloody stump where his foot had been. There was another bright flash, and Kufra's right arm exploded, leaving only a stump at the shoulder. Kufra pitched forward, then arose and managed to balance himself on one foot. I could see his mouth moving. It didn't take much imagination to guess what he was screaming at us. The last shot hit Kufra's neck and his head went spinning.

"Machines work pretty good, Ismaili." Kathleen said with a smile.

"Damn right." was the reply.

"Colonel O'Donnell?" came a voice over the comm. "Do you have Mrs. Crichton with you?"

"Yes. I'm here." I said without waiting for Kathleen. "Have you found anything?"

"Not much, ma'am." was the reply. "Our tame computer buck found only one file that mentions you or any of your family. We're uploading all the data in the computer to the main intel computer on _Agincourt_. None of us made anything useful out of it, but there are some links on it we don't understand. We thought maybe you could look at the hard copy we made."

I was already halfway back to the compound by the time the comm. was over. Kathleen led me to intel's temporary quarters in what had apparently been a gambling and game room. A dozen or so soldiers rattled around in a room designed to hold a few hundred. Computer terminals and other equipment was scattered around. One soldier was throwing a ball through a null gravity field trying to send the ball through a series of holes marked with denominations of money.

"Is this all you have to do, trooper" Kathleen asked.

"He's working ma'am." Said a sergeant looking up from a screen hooked into the null grav generator. "The damned game is rigged. It looks like this bastard cheated his guests. I'm trying to figure out how he did it, in case we ever run into something like this."

While Kathleen was discussing the technical details with the sergeant, another trooper handed me the file that Corbellote had on me. Most of the file were holos of me, taken when I was more or less in public. Also, most of them concentrated on my loomas or my eema. One was a shot of me in what John had called a "negligee" that showed more of me than I wanted anyone else to see. It appeared to have been taken through a window at a beach resort we had been to a cycle ago. How long had that bastard been stalking me?

"Any help, Aeryn"?" Kathleen asked when I had read the file.

I shrugged. "There are some names of people he used to track me and my family. Nobody that I know, but I'll get to know them later."

"What about the datastrips at the bottom of the document?"

I shook my head. "Random combinations of Sebacean numbers and letters. It probably refers to other files, but unless you have an index of some sort, they're useless."

Frell! I was tired. I was beginning to believe that John wasn't at this compound and probably wasn't even on this planet. But where was he? Dead on some other planet? Held prisoner? Hiding from kidnappers on some backwater planet? Where? Where?

""Can I bother you for a second, Aeryn?"

Frell! I had been so busy worrying that I had walked right out of the gambling room without noticing it. I was a long way from being the Peacekeeper warrior I had been thirty cycles ago. I found myself standing in the huge entryway at the front of what had been a palace. Ismaili was standing in front of me, his helmet hanging from the back of his armor.

"Command says it's safe enough for us non-combatants to open up a bit. You can take off your helmet.

It wasn't until I had the helmet off that I noticed how stale the air I had been breathing was. I took several deep breaths.

"Feels a lot better, doesn't it?" Ismaili asked with a smile. I nodded in return.

Ismaili gave a quick look around and then led me to an area behind the main staircase. "I wonder if I could ask your opinion about something, you being a local and all."

We stopped in front of a large rectangular crate, one end of which had been pried open. Standing by the crate were a pair of ex-slaves from some race I was unfamiliar with. They were about half my height but rather chubby. They had clumps of white fur on their bodies, in no particular pattern that I could see. They wore only a pair of rather garish striped pants.

Ismaili reached into the crate and pulled out a rectangular metallic bottle. "Finza here says this is number one first class hooch, alcohol, that is. What do you say?"

I took the bottle and looked at it, carefully translating the Delvian script. Finally I handed it back to Ismaili. "It's made by Delvians and it's something like what my husband calls whiskey. I've never heard of this particular type of intoxicant, but anything the Delvians make for export to other races is top quality and very expensive,"

Ismaili's smile told me that I had given him the answer he was hoping for. He turned to Finza. "Okay, Finza, this whole lot goes. Find Sergeant-Pilot Almieda and have him load it up. One case goes to Mrs. Crichton's quarters and Almieda will want to know…."

"…if we'll be able to fit any troops aboard _Agincourt_ once we load Gunner Ismaili's loot." Kathleen finished.

Ismaili turned, now stone-faced. "Consumables, ma'am. Entirely within regs."

"If you intend to consume all of this yourself, Gunner." Kathleen replied mildly.

"Oh, not all by myself, ma'am. No indeed." Ismaili quickly shot back. "Gupta gets his share, of course. And, as you heard, Mrs. Crichton gets a case. There'll be a case for the officer's mess, the warrant officer's mess and the sergeant's mess. As well as a case for Mr. Vergaah, since he's always saying he never has enough of the very best to entertain with. And, there'll be a few cases sent to the wounded. Oh, and yourself and the Vice-Marshall, of course. Straight to your quarters with no one the wiser."

Kathleen stared stonily at Ismaili and then smiled. "Gunner, you're incorrigible."

"That I am, ma'am. That I am." Was the prompt reply.

Kathleen nodded in agreement. "Send the two cases for my mother and me to Chief Mario. And make sure the other cases get where they're supposed to go." She stopped and stared at Ismaili for a microt. "It's no great secret how much money you have banked with finance. You could clean out the liquor depositories on this planet, find yourself somewhere quiet, find a couple of young, willing women…"

It was Ismaili's turn to finish Kathleen's sentence. "…and die of boredom in a year. No thank you, Colonel."

Kathleen laughed. "I suppose you're right. Carry on, Gunner."

Ismaili watched her walk away, a smile on his battered face. When she was out of sight he turned to Finza. "How many cases are there?"

"Forty three." Finza answered, in a surpisingly deep voice.

Ismaili rubbed his chin. "Even with Almieda's share, it won't be that bad."

Finza rapped his knuckles on Ismaili's armor. "We get all food? Not slave food. We get rich people's food. All of it."

"Finza, my friend," Ismaili said with a laugh, "you stick with me, and the humans, and you'll have all the food you'll ever want. You'll have so much you'll be able to open a fine restaurant back on Arsenal."

Apparently satisfied, Finza went off to load the rest of the "whiskey".

"Now, Aeryn, What can you tell me about Luxan wine?"

I made a face. "Luxans are a savage, brutal people and so is their wine. Peacekeepers use Luxan wine to clean corrosion off metal."

Ismaili shrugged and handed me another bottle.

I was telling Gunner Ismaili of the uselessness of anything claimed to be edible or potable by Hynerians when I was commed.

"Mrs. Crichton?" Asked a mechanical voice I'd learned to associate with the artificial intelligences used by these humans. "You and your escort are to report to Vice-Marshall O'Donnell's command vehicle. Please acknowledge."

Ismaili swore and then responded. "Gunner Ismaili acknowledging. I'll have Mrs. Crichton there."

Ismaili gave some last minute instructions to Finza and then Gupta and I followed him out of what had been my tormentor's lair.

Human troops were swarming in and around the compound. Ex-slaves were being assembled into groups of a twenty or so and marched off under the care of a single human soldier. It didn't look like any employees were left. Those who weren't valuable to their conquerors had been hung. Some soldiers were still working on the main building.

Ismalil nodded towards the troops. "Sappers love this shit. They're going to blow the two wings. Have 'em collapse in on themselves. That big dome will be dropped behind the main building, leaving only the gateway and the bastards hanging from it. The sappers wanted to put in booby traps, but the Vice-Marshall decided against it. She wanted the bastards who come here next to get a good look at our handiwork."

I nodded. I hoped John didn't arrive after we left. He'd see nothing but corpses and think I was dead.

More armored vehicles had arrived since our arrival and had laagered in front of the compound, churning up the once pristine lawns. Ismaili led me through a maze of howling lift fans and ponderously maneuvering armored vehicles of one sort or another. We stopped by a grounded vehicle marked with a drawing of red headed woman. As John might have said, the drawing left nothing to the imagination. The woman in the drawing also had absurdly large loomas. That was a human cultural trait I remembered from my own trips to Earth. Underneath the drawing were the words "Strawberry Bitch."

Kathleen stuck her armored head out of the rear ramp of the vehicle. "Get on in. We'll be moving in less than two minutes. Goro's headquarters have been over run. He and Vasa Corbellote are prisoners." She pulled her head back in and when the three of us entered the armored vehicle, she was deep in conversation with two soldiers manning comm consoles.

One of the vehicle crewmembers dropped down from the turret.

"God's blood! Are things so bad we have to arm the aged and infirm? What are you doing here, Gunner?"

I recognized her as the redhead whose picture adorned the vehicle. She had on only the lower part of her un-powered armor and a very brief top. The loomas that had been drawn were no exaggeration.

Ismaili smiled and waved at her. "How do, Boobs. When the Vice-Marshall has something important to do, she calls for experts. Not for children. Although if you do run us into an ambush, the three of us can find cover in your cleavage,"

Her smile remained. "My name is not Boobs, old man."

Before she could go further, Kathleen interrupted. "Your rank won't be Sergeant if you're not in combat order and in motion in twenty-seven seconds."

"Twenty-seven seconds it is, ma'am." She pulled the upper part of her armor and her helmet on and swung up into the turret. In microns we were moving.

After a few microts Ismaili stuck his head through a hatch behind the vehicle's turret. "Stick your head out, Aeryn. Get a look at this place."

Frankly, it looked a lot like what I had seen as a Peacekeeper all those cycles ago. Maybe not. The civilians being chivied into landers looked happy with their fate. Not like the civilians I'd seen once being forced into Peacekeeper labor battalions.

The landers could have been Peacekeeper models, although the human landers seemed to be bulkier. But Peacekeepers had nothing like the human's tanks and other armored vehicles, since they fought differently. Peacekeepers used their command carriers and other warships to pound a planet's defenses, then sent in wave after wave of Prowlers and Marauders to break the back of any resistance. Only then would the relatively lightly armed Commandos be sent in to mop up.

Humans used 170 ton tanks armed with 20 cm power guns. Since power guns drew their power from the tank's fusion plant, they were more powerful than similar pulse weapons which drew their power from chakon oil's natural volatility. When I had last seen a human army, their tanks had been supported by combat cars, open topped armored vehicles armed with three tri-barreled 2 cm power guns and by infantry mounted on one man skimmers and air cushion jeeps carrying heavier infantry weapons. Behind them were batteries of long-ranged artillery. And don't forget the artificial intelligences in each vehicle that were networked together. I had seen an attack by Prowlers and Marauders shredded by human power guns controlled by those AIs.

In twenty or more years, human armies had changed. At least here, the infantry, and other combat troops, wore powered armor. Others used un-powered armor like the set I had worn on K'hiff. Open topped combat cars had given way to carriers, a vehicle like a small tank with room for a squad of infantry in the back. As far as I could tell, tanks and artillery had changed only in getting faster, smarter and more lethal.

What the frell had I gotten in to? 


	6. Chapter 6

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Six  
By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

At last, we pulled up into the court yard of Goro's palace. The buildings were soaring towers in muted pastels, surrounding a main building that seemed to have been made from lace. In all, Goro's headquarters looked too fragile to stay standing. I assumed that human troops would soon change that. Still, something tickled my memory. Somewhere on Earth I had seen something like this. Had it been in a book?

"Good news, Aeryn." Kathleen said with a smile. "Goro has news about John."

I followed Kathleen to the broad steps leading to the main building. There, attached to the interrogation gear was a fat Sebacean who could only have been Vasa Corbellote. Kathleen waved me away from him.

"It's Goro that has the good news. Don't worry about his pal. He'll be gone before you know it."

We walked a few steps to the next person being interrogated, This must be Goro. He was a tall, spare Sebacean with carefully groomed white hair and an equally well tended beard. His pale skin was marked with a small tattoo on the back of his right hand. He was expensively, but conservatively dressed in a long panile fur robe over a Forosian silk shirt and pants. His jewelry was limited to a ring, bracelet and earring set that hardly looked impressive until you noticed they were set with real blood stones, and were worth enough to buy a medium sized planet. All in all, he would have looked quite dignified and imposing if he hadn't been giggling so hard that a trooper had to be assigned to keep him from falling over.

A sergeant stood as Kathleen approached. "This one really takes to the happy juice, ma'am. I gave him a minimum dose and had the doc monitor him, but he damned near made orbit on his own. Still, I don't think I've ever gotten a clearer response pattern from anyone I've snooped before."

Kathleen nodded. "Can you hook Mrs. Crichton into the interrogation and repeat the part about her husband?"

The sergeant smiled and nodded back. Before I quite knew it, I had an interrogator's rig against my forehead.

 _"Goro? Still with us?"_

I realized with a shock that I hadn't heard the sergeant's voice, but that it had appeared in my mind.

 _"Yes."_

 _"Tell us what Settiette told you when he landed here with Mrs. Crichton."_

The bastard giggled again when he heard my name. " _Aeryn."_

" _Yeah_." The sergeant interrupted. " _What did he say?"_

" _He needed my courier vessel to send a message to his people on Klaay-Mooth to redouble their efforts to capture or kill John Crichton. Crichton….dangerous."_

"What do you know about Klaay-Mooth?" That was Kathleen.

I ran the name through my mind. "Not much. It's a good sized commerce planet some thirty light cycles from here. I could spend cycles trying to find out what part of their criminal underworld is looking for John."

Kathleen smiled. "It'll be easier if we just find him first. Although word should get out fairly quickly that these bastards are all dead and there's no one to pay for killing John Crichton."

"Ma'am?" That was the senior interrogator.

"Yes, sergeant?" Kathleen responded.

"Between the two of them, they have a finger in just about everything happening around here. Not just criminal activities, but legitimate businesses and they're friendly with a whole lot of local politicians. They're a fucking gold mine of useful information."

"So we should keep them alive?"

The sergeant nodded.

"How long?"

The sergeant glanced at his partner. "Use three interrogation teams apiece, and give them, say, four hours of chemically enhanced sleep out of every twenty four. We can have 'em wrung dry in two weeks."

Kathleen considered this, and then turned to me. "You have any objection to that, Aeryn?"

I thought for a microt. "Is this interrogation procedure at all painful, if you do it continuously?"

The sergeant shook his head. "The whole point of this interrogation technique is to make the subject so happy he can't help telling you what you want to know." The sergeant stopped and gave me a speculative look. "You're the lady who was kidnapped to be hunted on this planet?"

I nodded.

The sergeant shrugged. "We usually execute people quickly, but after what I've seen on this planet, I don't think anyone would mind if command left you alone with these two with, say, a skinning knife."

From the look the sergeant gave Kathleen, I suspected that suggesting that a prisoner be tortured to death was usually not at all done. Kathleen kept her expression neutral and said nothing.

I thought about for more microns than I liked before shaking my head. "I doubt they could be made to suffer enough for what they've done on this planet. As long as they're never a threat to anyone else again, I'll be satisfied."

And so Goro and Vasa did not join their friends at the end of a noose, something for which I would later be grateful.

Suddenly, the interrogators stood and stiffened.

"Good day, Sergeant Ippolito. Interrogations going well?" That was Aida with a group of armored troopers following in her wake.

"Yes, ma'am." The sergeant grinned, obviously pleased at being recognized. "We're hauling these two back for some more work. I think the other teams have a few more that we need to interrogate more thoroughly, but we were able to give Mrs. Crichton some good news."

Aida laughed. "I picked that news up off the command circuit. A good thing, too. We Sebacean ladies are very partial to our human husbands."

I released a shaky breath. I had been worried about John for a long time, now it was sinking in that at least one of my worries was over. John was not on this planet. He was free somewhere. Now all I had to do was find him.

I found that Aida was leading me away from everyone. Her arm was draped lightly over my shoulder.

"Don't worry, Aeryn. We'll find John. As it happens, the task force doesn't have much to do, so I can put a lot of resources into locating him and discouraging anyone else who might be looking for him for the wrong reasons."

I smiled at Aida. "How am I going to be able to thank you?"

Aida laughed. "Don't worry about that. We ex-Peacekeepers married to humans have to stick together."

"That's only the two of us, Aida."

Surprisingly she shook her head. "There are more than that. Nearly two hundred and fifty Peacekeepers survived the debacle on K'hiff. Most were techs, but even some warriors managed to overcome their prejudices. I know of one commando that ended up studying medicine and marrying a human he treated. There are a good dozen such couples in our command and more Sebacean couples. They felt safer following a human who has a Sebacean wife."

Safer. Sooner or later I was going to have to start asking questions.

"Ah! Aida. There you are!" That was Rudy, looking quite pleased with himself. He was shepherding a short, swarthy and very hairy anthropoid male in front of him.

"Hello, Rudy. Who's your new friend?" Aida asked pleasantly.

Rudy smiled hugely." This is Master Passalle." He put an arm protectively over the little alien's shoulder. "Master Passalle, this is Vice-Marshall O'Donnell, whom I've told you about."

The reason for the arm around the shoulder became clear as Passalle tried to prostate himself in front of Aida.

"No, Passalle. As I taught you." Rudy whispered in the little fellow's ear.

Passalle composed himself and bowed at the waist in the human manner. "Your servant, Vice-Marshall."

"Pleased to meet you, Master Passalle." Aida replied, bowing slightly. Then she grinned at Rudy. "A master at bowing. You should find him quite useful."

"Aida! This is serious. The man is an artist. Look at his work!" Rudy pointed to a vast mural covering one wall of the palace. It showed a very idealized Goro defeating a Luxan warrior in single combat as a bevy of beauties from various races looked on with expressions of suitable awe on their faces.

"So Rudy the Magnificent has found his court painter?" Aida asked with a slight smile.

Rudy shook his head with exaggerated sadness. "Of course not. The graphic arts are a wonderful form of propaganda. Master Passalle will be invaluable to us."

Aida turned and studied the mural. Then she shook her head sadly. "I refuse to be painted like some tri-dee bimbo, all huge heaving breasts and impossibly long legs with a blonde mane that never gets mussed by little things like nuclear explosions."

Master Passalle, who had probably seen slaves executed for not pleasing their masters, looked terrified.

"My lady, I can paint many things. The late Goro had me paint the valley in winter, just like you would see from the window. See?" He said, pointing to a large landscape painting hung by a window. Indeed, it showed the same view as could be seen from the window, but with snow.

Aida strode over and examined the painting. "Now this is more like it. I wouldn't mind seeing this in my quarters."

"Philistine." Rudy muttered. Then he turned back to Master Passalle. "Don't worry, Passalle. You'll get used to the oddities of humans in a couple of decades, or so. In the meantime I'll see that your talents are properly used. In your odd hours you can churn out as much bourgeois kitsch as we can fit in Aida's quarters."

Aida smiled at Passalle. "Welcome, Master Passalle. Since Rudy values you so highly, I suppose your salary should be about the equivalent of a major in administrative services? That would come out of your budget, of course, Rudy."

"Salary?" Asked Passalle, suddenly looking crafty.

Rudy put his arm around the little being's shoulder and began to lead him away. "A field grade officer's salary is not out of the question. It will be something you can aspire to."

"Salary?" Passalle repeated

Aida shook her head as Rudy and Passalle left. "I shouldn't have frightened Passalle like that, but Rudy can go overboard. If you're not careful he'll flood the known Universe with pictures of a naked Aeryn Sun Crichton slaying half of this planet with her bare hands."

I smiled. "At least John would know where I was."

"Don't worry. He'll know soon enough."

The raid on this nameless planet was in its final phase. All of the compounds had been overrun by human troops. Slaves had been liberated and the slavers punished. I walked out of Goro's palace. All around the horizon were columns of smoke, each representing a palatial complex being reduced to rubble by the humans. All that remained was to withdraw the troops and ex-slaves, leaving the planet to heal itself.

"Ready Mrs. Crichton?"

That was Corporal Gupta.

"Is Gunner Ismaili still locating consumables, Corporal?" I asked.

Gupta's face turned perfectly blank. "I'm not aware of what Gunner Ismaili is doing right now, ma'am. He sent me to find you since we'll be leaving in a while. It'll take a while to get the ex-slaves off planet. Now they know we won't shoot 'em just for the hell of it, they're starting to loot. Moving 'em around is like herding cats."

I had a sudden thought. "Where are we going to put all of the ex-slaves. There's a limit on how much life support a ship has and military vessels are usually pretty close to that limit."

"The task force has a support group that hides out in interstellar space so no one can find it. One of them is a former freighter, the _Tsushima Maru_. Now she's a supply ship for us, but she is rigged to carry a lot of passengers. They'll go there."

In a few more microns Gunner Ismaili arrived and chivvied both of us to a lander. In slightly less than a solar day the raid was all over and I found myself back aboard _Agincourt_.

Dr. M'Boya fussed over me when I got back, but finally had to confess that I was far healthier than he had expected.

When he was done, I received a message inviting me to dinner with Aida. I accepted, of course and spent an hour trying and failing to make small talk with Aida, Kathleen and Rudy.

When dinner was over, Rudy announced he had a treat for us.

"Goro may have been nothing but a jumped-up thug, but he was a wealthy thug and had someone in his entourage with taste." With that, Rudy gave a nod to the silently efficient Chief Mario. Mario wheeled a small trolley with a pair of bottles on it up to the small table we sat at. Mario set a small glass in front of each of us as Rudy smiled at us all.

When Chief Mario was done, Rudy picked up a bottle.

"This is a species of local brandy that I had removed from Goro's wine cellar." He said as he started pouring.

Aida broke in. "I'm amazed that you didn't just remove the entire wine cellar, Rudy. You're slipping."

Rudy sniffed. "I did remove his entire wine cellar and all of the food in his kitchen. I did the same with several other complexes as a matter of fact." Rudy stopped and smiled indulgently at Aida. "Really, Aida. You have no idea how important entertaining is for aiding diplomacy. I was only able to salvage a few small treasures from that planet."

Rudy stopped for a microt and stared into the distance. "We do need to emphasize diplomacy more, you know. I had in mind using one of the large merchant ships as a mobile embassy. Something with lots of open space. We can build something that will make the local's eyes pop. Everything from costly carpets on the floor to Harmonium crystal chandeliers above. Priceless works of art at every turn. The very best food and drink for every alien palate. Soft sounds of classical music wafting through the air. I've always been partial to Grieg, Sainte-Saens, Sibelius, Khachaturian, all of those old twentieth century composers."

Kathleen gave Rudy a look of mock horror. "You didn't find a symphony orchestra down there that we'll have to feed, did you?"

Rudy looked quite pleased with himself. "A symphony orchestra? Of course not, Kathleen. I did find a wonderful composer, by the way. I played Finlandia for him. You know, the Soumi Orchestra's rendition. He loved it. I set him to work on an opera…"

"Oh, God." Aida swore softly. "I can see it now, Emperor Rudy Conquers the Universe, with sets and costuming by Master Passalle."

Rudy smiled slyly. "I have in mind something featuring someone better known locally. Everyone knows the story of Aeryn Sun Crichton. Now, there'll be a new chapter in the tale." Rudy suddenly turned to me, his eyes lighting up. "You wouldn't happen to have studied voice by any chance, Aeryn."

Before I could answer, Aida spoke. "Rudy, we're not here to turn Aeryn into some sort of propaganda tool."

I suppose that was my cue. I cleared my throat. "Excuse me, but why exactly are you here?"

The room was suddenly very quiet. The other three were looking at me in a very speculative manner.

Finally Rudy spoke. 'I was wondering when you'd ask that question. I had thought that it would be the first thing that you'd ask."

Aida shook her head. "Someone trained as a Peacekeeper Commando would want to gather evidence on her own so she could check what she was told against what she'd learned elsewhere. Although I'd think you'd have learned enough before this."

I shrugged. "When I first saw you again, Aida, I was afraid that the answer might be that you were the advance force of a huge human army bent on conquering this part of the galaxy. If that had been the case, I'd have had no choice but to agree to help you in return for your help in locating my family. I've seen enough to believe that you don't intend to conquer us, but I have no real idea what your intentions are. And another army is not what we need now." I stopped and looked at the three, and then went on. "That said, there's still nothing more important to me than John and our children. If you can help me get them to safety…" I stopped for a microt, but went on "..I will serve you faithfully. "

Aida smiled. "I think that all you'll need to do is be our friend, as you have been, Aeryn. As for why we're here, I'd better start with who I am, and who Eddie has become."

Aida stopped for a few microns and stared at a point in space, gathering her thoughts. "When you and John and your friends left K'hiff all those years ago, you left behind a very confused ex-Peacekeeper. The destruction of the command carrier I had been born on and the defeat of Peacekeeper troops by the supposedly inferior humans had changed life as perhaps only you can understand. But, I had decided that if Aeryn Sun could make a new life for herself, so could I. "

"I had met a human soldier that I could relate to, at least on some levels, and I knew I could function as a soldier in the strange human dominated Universe I was in."

"Eddie was ambitious and wanted his own mercenary unit. On K'hiff he had recruited some soldiers, as well as me, and had found a financial backer who would finance a mercenary company. So, Eddie promoted himself to Captain Edmund Burke O'Donnell and off we went. Our first stop was a planet called Shou Lin Kuo. Not much of a planet, but it had a long history of equipping mercenaries. They had everything from tanks fresh off the transports from Earth, to junkyards filled with bits and pieces of every weapon ever built. We spent our time in the latter, more often than not. Our financial backer was hardly rich enough to pay for a first class armored unit. If he had been rich enough, he wouldn't have been out on the Frontier."

"Eventually, we found four combat cars that we managed to put into pretty good order. We added two platoons of infantry on skimmers, some jeeps and a couple of mortar carriers."

Aida smiled softly. I wondered what it would have been like getting to know humans, frell, getting to know one human, whose interests and training was more like my own.

She shook her head. "Sorry. Lost my train of thought. A bad sign, that."

"Our first assignment was to protect a small mining operation on a desert planet. Eddie always called that a learning experience. Frell! All I learned was how totally frelled up things could get. The mine's management were all busy stabbing each other in the back and plotting to steal the company blind. The miner's union was divided into factions that hated each other and the locals wanted to kill all of us, preferably as slowly and painfully as possible. But we survived and actually got a bonus from the mining corporation."

Aida's smile faded and her eyes became hard. "Our next assignment was as the third company in a short-handed battalion. That's usually a bad deal. The battalion commander has no long term interest in your company, so he'll keep you as short of maintenance, spare parts and any other consumeables as he can and hog everything for his own units. Our battalion commander did all of that and more. Then he sent us into an ambush he'd set up with the opposition so he wouldn't have to pay us at the end of our mission."

"About half of our company survived to retreat into the forest that covered most of the planet. There we found a transport that had landed several years previously after a life support breakdown. The crew was dead or dying when they landed, missed the starport by a thousand kilometers, and any survivors died when they left the ship and tried to march a thousand kilometers to civilization. Oh, their cargo was a complete company of brand new main battle tanks fresh from the factories of Earth."

Aida grinned wolfishly. "Now that was a pleasant surprise. And an unpleasant surprise for our former commander. One he didn't live long enough to truly appreciate."

Aida stopped and looked at me for a micron. "Aeryn, inhabited planets on the Frontier tend to be sparsely populated and poor. There are exceptions, of course, but we weren't on one of them. Mercenaries with powerful, modern weapons stay out of the Frontier and head for the Core where there's money to be made. So there we were with twenty of the best tanks in the Universe on this two-bit planet. After we shot up the other side's mercenaries, we made the two sides a deal. They'd pay us, add a hefty bonus and help us get the crashed transport ready to go back into space. In return for which we'd refrain from blowing them into little bits and pieces."

I stared at Aida levelly. "It doesn't sound like you treated them much better than the Peacekeepers or Scarrens would have."

To my surprise, Aida colored slightly and lowered her eyes. "We didn't. Heat of the moment, I suppose. But, to be truthful, they didn't treat each other any better than Peacekeepers or Scarrens, either. They'd been killing each other with crude homemade weapons before any mercs came along, and happily went back to doing so when we left."

Aida raised her eyes and grinned at me. "But that made Captain O'Donnell's Mercenary Company. We stayed on the Frontier for a while. Since we were so frelling powerful, no one wanted to fight us. Frontier mercs tend to be light infantry with little or no armor and only a bit more in the way of anti-armor assets. Word would get out that we'd been hired and suddenly our employer's enemies couldn't recruit anyone. Anyone at all. We'd collect our pay and look for more work. "

"Sounds like a good deal. What happened, Aida?"

She laughed. "It worked too well. After a while the locals got smart. They decided it was easier to negotiate with each other than to go deeply into debt to pay our price. We were good, but we were the most expensive frelling merc unit on the Frontier. Well, we had to be, right? Modern tanks are expensive to operate, especially if you have to go all the way back to Earth to get spare parts."

Aida got that faraway look in her eyes again. "I always wanted to see Earth. Eddie said he'd take me if things ever settled down, but they never did."

I said nothing. I had seen Earth and hadn't been the least bit impressed.

Aida went on. "We started moving closer to the Core. We'd made enough money on the Frontier to recruit what passed for a battalion. We had a mixed company of combat cars and infantry to go with our tanks and two of the worst pieces of artillery I've ever seen. No matter what we did to them, they'd break down halfway through the battle. Guaranteed!"

"Eddie was good. He is a damned brilliant armored unit commander. I'm immodest enough to say I'm pretty good myself. So, by the end of the Fezzan Civil War, we had a heavily reinforced battalion, nearly eighteen hundred soldiers. We didn't know it at the time, but things were changing."

Aida stopped talking and just stared ahead of her. Kathleen was just staring off into space as well. I decided that things must have well and truly changed.

Finally Rudy spoke up. "Perhaps, Aeryn, an explanation of humanity's recent history from a non-human would be of assistance."

Aida broke her stare long enough to nod vaguely at Rudy.

Rudy poured himself another drink and continued. "Earth developed faster than light drive many centuries ago. When they did, they found that there were Earth-like planets that they could colonize. The wealthy nations that had FTL ships had little incentive to colonize anything. If you have technology that's advanced enough to go to the stars, your society was rich enough and inclusive enough to usually lack people unhappy enough with the status quo to head for some untamed planet and fight like hell to create a viable society."

Rudy shrugged. "There were exceptions of course. There were valuable commodities out among the stars, and rich nations, and even corporations, wanted their share. And more than their share."

"There were others." Aida said quietly.

"True." Rudy said, nodding. "There are always some dissatisfied people in any society, no matter how attractive that society may be. Marshall O'Donnell's ancestors were from a place called Ireland, on Earth. They were worried that their culture was being submerged by Earth culture as a whole. They settled a planet they called Donegal. The people of this Ireland felt strongly enough about saving their culture to provide enough money to set up a first class colony for a few hundred thousand people. Of course, most didn't feel strongly enough about it to go themselves." Rudy said with a laugh.

"Others did." Kathleen did.

"Yes." Rudy replied, nodding. "Even in the wealthiest and best run nations there were chronic malcontents. People who had a vision of establishing a perfect society somewhere among the stars. Their colonies seldom attracted more than a few tens of thousands of followers, although they were usually quite fanatical about their beliefs. Since they were usually marginal members of their societies on Earth, their colonies were usually scandalously under-funded as well."

"That wasn't their only problem." Kathleen added. "Corporations would locate a suitable colony world and provide transportation for few thousand people. Having found such a planet, they'd keep sending colonists to that world. At first, a few thousand people spread over a whole planet wouldn't even be aware of each other's existence. But eventually, a colony of militant atheists would rub up against a colony that wanted to run their affairs according to the word of god."

"However he, she, it or they had said society should be run." Rudy added.

Aida shot Rudy a look, but she said nothing to him. "But, over the centuries, colonists with diametrically opposed views found themselves competing for scarce resources on the planet."

"Wars." I said quietly.

Aida and Kathleen nodded.

"Oh," Rudy said brightly, "let's not forget the largest source of colonists from Earth." He smiled benignly and poured himself another drink. "Earth has always had a wonderful assortment of dictators. They call themselves President-for-Life, or the Dear Leader, or the Maximum Leader, or some other absurd title."

"Unlike the modest K'hiff?" Kathleen said lightly.

"Now, now, Kathleen. We're trying to educate Aeryn on the last millennium or so of human history."

"Quite." Kathleen replied.

"As I was saying, Earth has had no shortage of leaders who'd tax their peasants into penury to buy weapons their troops couldn't operate or maintain. They built huge steel mills, neglecting to note that their countries lacked iron or coal deposits. Huge sports stadiums were built so that giant rallies could be held glorifying their leaders. And what could be better than your very own colony shouting the glory of your Leader to the Universe?"

"I went to one such colony, once, many years ago. Their leader was centuries dead, but his megalomania lived on. He had built a space port that could easily handle a hundred ships. There was a twenty kilometer long expressway, eight lanes wide in each direction, leading to the capitol city. Every twenty-five yards was a statue of the long dead leader, three times life size, in various impressive poses."

"The joke was that ours was the only ship that had called in years. The expressway was so run down, we had to drive alongside of it to get anywhere. We were lucky we were in a military vehicle designed for rough country. We night not have made it, otherwise."

"The city was just a huge ruin, of course. A few thousand people lived there, scavenging bits of metal or whatever to survive."

"But the statues! The statues had been built for the ages. Aside from the occasional arm or head shot off, they were like new."

Rudy chuckled. "No one on the planet remembered the name of the tyrant who had sent their ancestors there. Not even the name of their home planet, or country. I did a cursory check, but couldn't find out who the bastard had been. I decided he deserved to be forgotten more than most of his kind."

"There was one other source of colonists, Rudy." Kathleen reminded the K'hiff.

"Ah, yes!" Rudy said brightly. "I almost forget. The "social un-desireables" as they were called."

Kathleen nodded. "Prisoners."

Rudy nodded. "Humans decided there was no point in taking up scarce resources on your home world taking care of thieves, gamblers, substance abusers and such. Just ship them off to some far off planet and let them take care of themselves."

"Surprisingly, "Kathleen said, "this was often viewed as a step forward. People who would otherwise sit in jail and be exposed to nothing but hardened criminals could be sent off to found new homes among the stars."

"Often, the people who were sent out as colonists were decent enough people who had made a mistake, often a bad mistake, to be sure. Others lacked the intelligence or education to function in a highly technical society. Some couldn't pass up the temptations that an advanced society could provide to someone seeking a better high."

Rudy sniffed dismissively. "Ninety-nine percent of those who thought up these pitiful schemes had little notion of what back breaking labor subsistence farming is. How nearly impossible subsistence farming was on worlds other than Earth. Worlds that had their full quota of things to kill unwary humans. Everything from tiny viruses to indigenous civilizations overlooked by incompetent survey parties."

"And so little groups of a thousand or so petty criminals, addicts, social deviants, and assorted riff-raff were handed an assortment of hand tools, some seed, domestic animals and a few weapons and dumped on some alien world. Somehow it was always a great surprise when the next shiploads of innocents to the slaughter arrived and found nothing but rusted equipment and rotting corpses instead of a happy home across the galaxy."

Aida laughed softly. "I'm beginning to think you're a humanitarian, Rudy."

Rudy shot her a glance. "It's worse. I used to be a humanitarian. Now I'm a cynic."

Rudy stopped for a microt, then smiled and went on. "So that gives you an idea of what human space is like, after many centuries of colonization, Aeryn. There were thousands and thousands of inhabited worlds. On a small number, humans had either died out entirely or had been reduced to the level of animals. An only slightly larger number of worlds boasted human colonies as wealthy and technologically advanced as Earth itself. "

"The vast majority or colonies were poorer, to one degree or another, although the ruling elites often lived as well as anyone on the more advanced worlds."

Rudy gave me a smile. "There are non-human worlds, of course. There are even a few that were advanced enough to build faster than light ships once humans showed them it was possible. But, in the grand scheme of things, non-human civilizations count for little."

"Is that the fate of the Sebaceans, Luxans, Delvians and all the rest? To count for little in a new human dominated galaxy?" I asked stiffly. 


	7. Chapter 7

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Seven  
By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language. Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

Rudy, and Aida and Kathleen, vigorously shook their heads.

"Not at all, Aeryn." Rudy said softly. "We're too weak to overrun your Universe. The people in charge back in our Universe are worried about consolidating their power. Not extending it."

"Since we're getting to the military end of things, perhaps I should take over, Rudy." Aida offered.

Rudy nodded. "Please do so, Aida,"

Aida took a drink and settled back in her chair, looking past me.

"Humans, being humans, continued to war among each other. The vast majority of poorer planets couldn't field a large, well trained force equipped with up to date weapons. So, they fought with whatever their limited economies could produce. Tanks armored with ceramic armor, powered by electric fuel cells and using an electromagnetic railgun would have been laughed at by any modern army, but they were perfectly capable of destroying their similarly armed neighbors."

"A few states managed to buy some modern weapons, but never enough to make a difference in the quality of anyone's army."

"Finally, mercenary units came into being."

I thought about that for a microt. "If you can't afford to buy modern weapons, how the frell do you buy a whole army?"

"Not buy, Aeryn, rent. Most planets couldn't afford to pay for their own modern armored regiment for year after year until one day it was needed. However, they could hire a mercenary armored regiment in exchange for an amount equal to, say, twenty years of their normal expenditure on their own military. You'd pay a mercenary company to come to your planet, thrash your neighbors and then have twenty years to pay the bill."

Rudy broke in. "Even better, you could insist that your defeated neighbors pay most of the bill."

Aida went on. "There were problems at first. A mercenary unit might unilaterally increase their price in the middle of a battle. Or, they might find the planet to be congenial and become the new government. They might find themselves facing a more powerful mercenary unit and leave, taking however much of their paymaster's money they could get a hold of. Alternatively, an unsuccessful mercenary company might find their employers willing to make a deal to have the winning mercenaries execute the losers. That way, only one mercenary unit need be paid."

"That doesn't sound encouraging." I said acidly.

"The Mercenary Bonding Authority took care of that." Rudy said casually.

"Who the frell are they?" I shot back.

"A very wealthy and powerful consortium of banks, insurance companies, spacelines, weapons builders and others." Aida answered.

Rudy nodded. "Felchow & Sohn was the first merchant bank to realize just how lucrative war could be. As long as they weren't the ones being shot at, of course."

"Of course." Aida said, shaking her head. "A mercenary bond is simple. A planet hiring mercenaries deposits the money with the Authority. The Authority guarantees that the mercenaries, even if they lose, get a minimum payment and transportation off planet. A victorious unit gets paid more. That satisfies the mercenaries."

"The planet hiring the mercenaries is guaranteed by the Authority that the mercenaries actually have the numbers of troops, weapons, etc, that they claim to have. They also guaranteed that the mercenaries wouldn't overthrow the government or casually massacre civilians. For poorer planets with less experience hiring soldiers, the Authority would assess the planet's needs and recommend the appropriate mercenary unit."

"For a price, of course." Rudy added.

Aida went on. "The system benefited everyone. If the mercenaries tried renege on a contract, they had to deal with the rich and powerful Bonding Authority. A minor transgression could lead to serious problems for a unit getting a bond for any future lucrative contracts. A major breach of a contract, such as changing sides, could see the Bonding Authority hiring a powerful mercenary force to exterminate the renegade mercenary unit."

"A government was less likely to try to cheat a powerful mercenary force, but, if they did, in future they'd find it difficult to impossible to get a bond to hire a reputable force."

"Something went wrong." I suggested.

"As always." Rudy said happily.

Aida went on. "In the short term, the Authority 'civilized' the endless brush fire wars raging across the galaxy, sharply reducing the incidence of atrocities either by or to the mercenaries. In the long term, by making war just another form of acceptable business, albeit a highly profitable one, the Authority had a devastating effect on galactic development. The whole commercial system was winding down as resources were diverted from infrastructure development into weapons and soldiers. In many ways this was more devastating than the wars themselves as planet after planet spent the bulk of its Gross National Product on servicing military debts."

"As already poor planets got poorer, more and more men and women turned to soldiering to survive. Most mercenary units, no matter how good they were, would hire some local auxiliaries. Local scouts, field intelligence and security troops would all bring local knowledge that the mercenaries wouldn't have, but would find to be invaluable. A lot of mercenary units would recruit local light infantry units to supplement their own armor or armored infantry. A lot of locals got recruited for jobs like cooks, truck drivers, and clerks. Jobs that didn't need an expensively trained and equipped soldier to do, but still needed to be done. When the campaign was over, they'd all likely ship off planet with one mercenary unit or another. Especially those on the losing side."

Rudy shook his head sadly. "The glut of trained soldiers made it easier to recruit mercenary units. The abundance of mercenary companies made it attractive for planets deeply in debt to pay off those debts by conquering an empire."

I looked at each in turn. "It sounds like human civilization should have dissolved in an endless series of wars."

"Ah!" Said Rudy with a smile. "Humans can always be counted on to do the intelligent thing, once they've tried everything else."

Aida wagged a finger at Rudy. "Now, now, Rudy." She said with a smile of her own.

Rudy looked her in mock chagrin. "I shall be a good boy, Aida."

"The experiences of the planet Firenza will serve to explain what happened." Aida continued. As she spoke, a holo of a solar system appeared over her desk. "Firenza was a wealthy colony of Old Earth. Over a billion people lived on two inhabitable planets in the Firenza system and on one barely habitable, but mineral rich, moon of a gas giant. Firenza had even sent out a colony of its own, Venezia. Venezia, with a population of a hundred million or so, was independent, but still looked on Firenza as their mother world."

"Firenza had a conscript army with fairly good locally made weapons. Any first class mercenary regiment could have torn any Firenzan regiment, or even any division, to shreds. But no conceivable mercenary force could have invaded Firenza and defeated an army based on a population of a billion people. There were just too frelling many Firenzans."

"As someone once said, "Rudy commented, "quantity has a quality all of its own."

Aida nodded. "Firenza traded regularly with a hundred or so nearby worlds." The holo expanded to show the solar systems around Firenza. "They had a large merchant fleet and a small navy. The navy was mainly designed as an anti-pirate force, mainly destroyers and frigates. They had one light cruiser as a flagship."

"Firenza's trading partners started to go slowly but surely into an economic decline because of the endless wars between them. The raw materials Firenza needed for its industries started to dry up. The finished products their factories made couldn't be sold to their increasingly impoverished neighbors. Firenza's economy also declined."

Rudy interrupted. "Like many governments, faced with intractable problems, Firenza did little and hoped for the best. But, every year things got worse."

Aida nodded. "Firenza contributed to the problem, too. They were as willing to meddle in other planet's affairs by subsidizing mercenary contracts as long as it suited their short term needs."

"Finally, they found they had one very large problem." The holo over Aida's desk changed. Firenza was shown in green, the other hundred or so planets in red and one planet was shown in blue.

"Rodina was a planet that was less populous and poorer than Firenza, but not greatly so." Aida said, reaching into the holo and tapping the blue colored solar system. "The government of Rodina had come to power in a military coup supported by mercenaries. Naturally, the government was deeply in debt. They decided to solve their problems by building an empire. They hired mercenaries to intervene in a civil war on a planet called Tenochtitlan. "

A planet near Rodina changed color from red to blue in the holo.

"The new pro-Rodina government of Tenochtitlan signed commercial treaties that were very favorable to Rodina. And unfavorable to Firenza. Nobody could ever prove that Rodina was responsible, but suddenly Firenzan owned companies on Tenochtitlan seemed to have endless labor troubles. Rodinian companies had no such problems. Firenzan ships always seemed to be found to have serious safety violations when checked on Tenochtitlan. Rodinian ships had no such problems. Firenzans seemed to always get sued and always lose in the local courts."

"In a little over a year, most Firenzan companies had sold their interests on Tenochtitlan and Firenzan ships stopped calling there. Tenochtitlan was nothing but a colony of Rodina."

"I think I can see where this is going." I said.

Aida nodded. "In three years, Rodina had conquered four planets. They made it very clear that they intended to continue and to reduce Firenza to penury."

"At long last Firenza decided to do something." Rudy said snidely. "All they had to do was decide what to do. A decision to finally do the obvious took forever."

"Rudy, if we bore Aeryn with all the details of human politics, we'll be here forever. You said you'd be a good boy, so hush."

"Should I go to my room with no supper?" Rudy asked Aida slyly.

Aida ignored Rudy and went on. "The Firenzans decided to forego the use of mercenaries and fight themselves. They recruited a large volunteer army of some four divisions." Aida stopped for a moment. "Aeryn, that would be larger than the unit Alois Hammer commanded on K'hiff when you were there, say about a hundred thousand plus troops. They bought the most modern weapons they could find in massive quantities. They did in fact hire a small number of mercenaries, but only as advisors and instructors."

"Most importantly, as it happened, they built up a real war fleet. They had two battleships. Well, the Firenzans called them battleships, although they were only moderately larger than armored cruisers."

"By the time they had recruited, trained and equipped their army and fleet, Rodina had overrun another five or six planets. Worse, most planets were now too afraid of offending Rodina to ask Firenza for help."

"Finally a planet called Zaporizhhia worked up the nerve to try to save itself." Rudy interjected.

Aida nodded. "They were next on Rodina's list. So, they signed a treaty of alliance with Firenza. The ink had hardly dried on the treaty before Rodina struck. They used four first class mercenary armored regiments and another six middling quality units. That should have been enough to destroy Firenza's green units, no matter how good their equipment was."

"It almost was. The better trained and better led mercenaries were repeatedly able to out think, out maneuver and out shoot their Firenzan enemies. What saved them was Firenza's fleet. They declared a blockade of Zaporizhhia and refused to let any ships at all past."

Rudy chuckled. "You should have heard the howling. I'm surprised you didn't hear it actually. The wealthy planets had grown accustomed to trading when and where they pleased, irrespective of any local wars. They were absolutely furious, of course." Rudy chuckled again. "Mind you, not furious enough to try conclusions with the Firenzan Navy."

Aida also laughed. "The Firenzans also used their warships to strike the surface of Zaporizhhia. In the end, the mercenaries, deprived of replacement troops, spare parts and ammunition were facing a Firenzan army that still had off planet logistic support. They surrendered."

"Naturally, the Bonding Authority insisted that Rodina pay the mercenaries as planned. That left the Rodinan empire with some severe financial problems."

"It also left a lot of planetary governments ready and willing to ally themselves with Firenza. Firenza set up the Firenza Trade and Defense Union. Firenza got a stabilized economy among its neighbors that helped Firenza's economy. The defense part of the treaties served notice that Firenza would keep the peace in its section of the galaxy at gunpoint if need be."

Rudy spoke again. "Firenza made sure that its allies contributed mostly money to the cause. That way Firenza could build up its own military and make sure none of its allies would ever get strong enough to challenge Firenza."

Kathleen joined the conversation. "Firenza terminated the independence of its former colony Venezia. There was little opposition to that from Venizia. Their government had worried greatly about the increasing galactic economic problems and suddenly independence seemed to present nothing but problems. Firenza also took over a nearby solar system called Buchan. Buchan hasn't anything even resembling an inhabitable planet, but it has huge deposits of valuable metals and a large orbital manufacturing capability."

Rudy interrupted. "Regrettably for Buchan, their population was only a couple of million and about half were foreign miners on short term contracts who didn't care who ran Buchan as long as they got paid. Buchan, sensibly decided to surrender."

Aida continued. "Firenza quickly built their military back up and even expanded it."

The holo over Aida's desk changed again. "Firenza now consisted of three solar systems and stood at the head of an alliance of some thirty worlds. There was a nearby world called Calabria that had sprung from the same ethnic group back on Earth as had Firenza that was considering a merger with Firenza. At least a dozen other planets were in discussions to join the Trade and Defense Union."

Rudy shook his head. "Naturally, such success created enemies. Any number of quite wealthy worlds and interstellar corporations that had done quite well financially out of a war economy stood to lose greatly. Even among planets that shared Firenza's belief that the endless warfare had to be ended saw no reason why Firenza should end up leading the galaxy. Firenza was just too rich and too powerful for a lot of people."

"All over the human occupied galaxy governments realized that something had to be done to stop the endless warfare before civilization collapsed. Sometimes the strongest nation on one planet would try to unify the planet under one government, either by negotiation or by force, but usually by force. The strongest planet would then try to subdue their neighbors. And then the strongest group of planets would try to subdue their neighbors in turn. Eventually, very powerful groups would find themselves at war. As the wars spread, they became one massive war. We called it the Consolidation War."

Rudy gave Aida a sly smile. "There is something quintessentially human about trying to bring peace to the galaxy by means of war."

Aida ignored Rudy. "At the start of the war, my husband's mercenary unit consisted of a small division of two armored regiments." Aida continued. "Firenza suddenly had too many enemies to continue their policy of not hiring mercenaries. We were hired to protect one of Firenza's allies and we eventually spent over twelve years working for Firenza. "

Aida stopped, staring at the ceiling above her. Then she went on. "At the end of twelve years our unit was Marshall O'Donnell's Armored Corps. We had three armored divisions, a light cavalry division and an artillery division, not to mention smaller units."

"We had prospered, but humanity had just barely survived. Firenza itself had expanded to a federation of a dozen wealthy and powerful planets. This federation controlled six or seven hundred planets in the re-named Firenzan Union. A dozen or so similar federations controlled anything between a few hundred planets to a thousand or more planets."

"The endemic warfare between planets had finally been quelled, but at a horrible price. Planets had been fought over so badly that all but the luckiest and most powerful had suffered enormous amounts of damage. No one knows how many died, but the figure was certainly in the billions. Every planet groaned under an unsupportable burden of taxation. Humanity was sick to death of war and longed for peace."

"But there were still tens of millions of soldiers under arms throughout human space. They weren't all mercenaries either, planetary armies had expanded enormously. Some soldiers could be returned to their homes to be discharged and help to rebuild their societies. Some could be settled on new worlds, to start new civilizations. And, indeed, some soldiers would be needed to enforce the new found peace. But many soldiers had nowhere to go."

"O'Donnell's Corps had been recruited from dozens of worlds and often our people had no homes to return to. Worse, many people blamed mercenaries for the wars that had almost torn humanity apart. Many of our soldiers who had home worlds they could return to were unwelcome because they were mercenaries. Other units were in the same fix."

"My husband is not the sort that would allow his former soldiers to be thrown on the street to beg, or worse, to be used for slave labor, as some prisoners of war were."

"Eddie and I were very politely asked by Firenza to disband the Corps. We already had money enough to live quite well on and Firenza offered us ownership of a small continent on a sparsely inhabited frontier planet. They even told us we could keep an entire regiment for our personal army. But, if we refused, Firenza let us know that the Corps would be destroyed and us with it."

"You refused?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Aida smiled and shook her head. "We did not refuse. However, we didn't accept their offer either. Eddie said he believed there was always another way."

I wondered if he had heard that from John, or if it was just typical of humans.

Aida continued. "At first, all we did was stall. Then we thought of the Uncharted Territories. No one had had any contact with the Uncharted Territories since we were all on K'hiff. It may sound a little pretentious, but we had an idea that if we went there, we could be like the original Peacekeepers."

In spite of myself, I nodded. The Goddess knew we needed something.

"We had a motley fleet of our own in addition to our ground forces. Mostly we had transports of one sort or another. We did have some minor warships, however. We sent some ships to K'hiff to see if we could go from our universe to yours on a regular basis."

I remembered the time more than twenty-five cycles ago when we had entered K'hiff's solar system. In our universe, it consisted of two long dead planets, or so we thought. One "planet" was actually an artifact of a long vanished race. It was a planet sized machine, powered by a tame black hole that somehow existed in two separate universes at the same time, and provided a gateway between the two. We had passed into a universe unlike our own. A universe where the planet K'hiff teemed with life. A universe where humans were the dominant race. But, by shutting down our ship's power, and coasting towards the huge machine, we were able to cross back into our own universe.

"You succeeded, obviously."

Aida nodded. "We sent un-powered probes through first. They were programmed to look around and then come back. Finally we sent a destroyer through the Artifact."

"You might be interested to know that the destroyer was commanded by Eddie and Aida." Rudy said quietly.

"The most over-commanded ship in history." Aida snorted.

There was a short pause while Aida looked embarrassed. Then she continued.

"We found that once we mapped the field, or whatever the frell it is, that the Artifact uses to send things between the universes, travel between these universes was both simple and safe."

"We spent a while looking around and seeing how things had gone since I had left. Then we left a small force behind to look for a base deep in the Uncharted Territories."

"Eddie and I returned to Firenza with a counter offer. We'd discharge any of our soldiers who wanted to leave our service. We'd recruit soldiers from other units who had nowhere to go and knew nothing but soldiering. Then we'd lead the whole force through the Artifact and never return to our own universe again."

Rudy nodded. "Rather unusually, not just Firenza, but other governments were cooperative."

"Unusually?" Kathleen asked.

"I've found that when human politicians from rival nations cooperate, you should keep one hand on your wallet and one on your gun." Rudy replied sagely.

Aida rolled her eyes at Rudy. Rudy just smiled.

"Be that as it may, "Aida went on, "a lot of governments were cooperative. They opened up their arsenals to us. Anything and everything we needed was supplied."

"We more than doubled the size of our army and added a significant fleet to our forces. Not just the light forces we'd had, but heavy units: Cruisers, battle cruisers, and even some battleships."

"Weren't the authorities in your universe afraid you'd turn on them?" I asked.

Aida shook her head. "We were nowhere near as strong as even the weakest government. If we had tried it, we would have been crushed. But they did want to be certain that we'd be able to defend our end of the Artifact. In spite of the ease with which Colonel Hammer had beaten the Peacekeepers, no one wanted a war with another universe."

"We'd found an Earth-like planet, deep in the Uncharted Territories. We called it Arsenal. We started sending ships and troops through the Artifact to set up a base."

"Three years ago, we were ready to move our entire force into this universe."

"You've been here for three cycles without anyone knowing about you?" I asked, slightly shocked.

"No, Aeryn," Kathleen replied. "We've been here for about a year. We were ready to go three years ago, but things went wrong."

Aida continued. "The Pavia Division had been returned to their home world, also called Pavia. There was a lot of tension between the division and the rest of the planet. The planet had changed sides during the war. The Pavia Division hadn't."

"The Consolidation War ended with a series of negotiated armistices, rather than a clear cut victory for anyone, but the side the Pavia Division had supported came closer to winning than the side the planet of Pavia supported. The Pavia Division felt their planet had not only betrayed them, but betrayed them to back a losing cause. The government of Pavia believed that if the division had obeyed orders and changed sides, the planet would have done better in the subsequent peace negotiations."

"No one really knows what happened. The survivors of the Pavia Division said their officers were suddenly arrested and murdered and the other ranks arrested. The government said the Division intended to stage a coup and take over the government."

"There were a lot of soldiers throughout the galaxy trying to fit back into society. A lot of them still had weapons and had stayed in touch with their comrades. A lot of their civilian neighbors viewed the veterans with contempt and fear. There was a lot of confusion and not a little fighting. What happened to the Pavia Division was noticed by soldiers and politicians alike."

"The net result was that a lot of units decided to try their luck in another universe. Not just the individual recruits that we'd had before, but entire units of tens of thousands of soldiers were heading for the Artifact. Some wanted to join O'Donnell's Corps, which we renamed Human Forces Command. Others had no intention of subordinating themselves to anyone."

"There are a lot of humans headed into your universe, Aeryn."

"How many?" I asked.

Aida shook her head. "I have no idea. We have fifteen divisions, call it four hundred thousand troops, plus our fleet. At least that many appear to be headed this way for sure, and a lot more are considering it."

I shook my head. "Even a human regiment could wreak havoc on any one of hundreds of planets here."

Rudy interrupted. "We have our own sources, of course, but I'd be interested in your appreciation of the political situation in your universe, Aeryn."

I thought about it for a microt. There was no reason not to tell them what was obvious.

"When the treaty was signed between the Peacekeepers and the Scarrens, everyone thought that peace would reign throughout the galaxy. For a brief period it did."

"Then the Kalish asked the Eidelons to release them from their bondage under the Scarrens. The Eidelons considered their request and as far as I know, they're still considering the request. In the meantime a low level civil war started between the Kalish and the Scarrens. When the Charrids got involved, it became a full blown insurrection. With peace, the Charrids were no longer needed in such great numbers by the Scarrens. While some Charrid units were sent against Kalish rebels, other Charrid units were disbanded. Those Charrids reverted to the raiders they'd been before the Scarren Empire acquired their services. As often as not, they attacked Scarren worlds, but they also attacked non-Scarren worlds. Everyone blamed the Scarrens for not controlling the wild Charrids."

"The Peacekeepers also had problems. Rygel was brought back to Hyneria by his cousin Bishan. Rygel outmaneuvered Bishan at every turn. In a little over a cycle, Rygel had reclaimed his throne and killed Bishan. Or so Rygel says. There are at least two "Bishans" trying to overthrow Rygel and there are a lot of Bishan loyalists in the Hynerian Empire and more based on nearby planets. Rygel holds the core of his empire, but there's a low level civil war in the outer provinces. Sometimes it's not so low level."

"Rygel's next step was to remove the Peacekeepers from his domain. The Peacekeepers never had any talent for diplomacy and Rygel managed to expel them rather easily."

"Peacekeepers never had much of an understanding of economics, either. The Hynerian Empire's shipyards built many ships for the Peacekeepers and repaired even more. Hynerian taxes collected by the Peacekeepers kept a lot of their fleet going. When they lost the resources of the Hynerian Empire, the Peacekeepers got much weaker."

"Captain Crais had demonstrated that Peacekeeper commanders were perfectly capable of putting their own interests ahead of the interests of the Peacekeepers as a whole. Rogue Peacekeeper units started raiding planets to get the supplies they needed."

"The Delvians also got rid of their Peacekeeper occupiers, but at least the Delvians didn't dissolve into civil war. But the loss of Delvian resources caused more problems for the Peacekeepers."

"The Luxans contributed to the chaos in the galaxy as well. The threat of the Scarrens had kept the Luxan worlds unified and allied to the Peacekeepers. With both the Scarrens and Peacekeepers badly distracted, various Luxan warlords raided neighboring Luxan and non-Luxan worlds."

I stopped and thought for a microt. "Oh, yes. The centuries long Scorvian-Ilanic War boiled over with both sides taking an opportunity to grab whatever they could to help their own war effort."

"What about the Eidelons?" Aida asked.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think we expected too much of them. Perhaps they didn't realize that the universe and their own powers had changed in the twelve thousand cycles they were gone. I do know that they are a race that thinks in terms of millennia and not in terms of years. They regard our current wars as a minor problem that will soon disappear. Regrettably, to the Eidelons, "soon" may cover several centuries."

Rudy scratched his long, furry jaw. "Still, things aren't as bad here as they are in human space. If the outer provinces of Hyneria are at war, the inner provinces are peaceful and rich. Delvia itself and its colonies are thriving with only an occasional raid to worry them. Only a small proportion of the Luxan leaders have gone raiding, most are happy to remain at peace and many actively oppose their aggressive warlords. The Charrids are a greater problem, but not insoluble. Renegade Peacekeepers are a more serious problem, given the size of their fleet and the numbers that have turned renegade. All together, though, not a bad situation for a human army looking not just for employment, but allies and even, perhaps, a home." Rudy stared into the distance with a smile on his face.

I wasn't sure I wanted opportunities for a human army. On the other hand, there were plenty of people fighting in my home universe. Perhaps the humans could help.

A blue light started flashing on Aida's desk.

"Enter." Aida called. The door opened and one of her officers entered.

"Excuse me, ma'am. _Surprise_ , Captain Aubrey, just arrived. Captain Aubrey had some news that he thought our guest would like to see immediately." He held up a small cube.

"Let's see it." Aida said, leaning forward.

The officer put the cube on her desk. Instantly a hologram appeared. As soon as I saw it, I gave a small shriek. My children. My children and Dominar Rygel.

In a microt Rygel began speaking. "I, Rygel, Sixteenth of my line, by the Grace of the Old Gods, Dominar of the Unified Hynerian Empire and Interlocutor between the Empire and the Old Gods, decree the following: The children of John and Aeryn Crichton have been given sanctuary by my Empire. Know all that D'Argo Sun Crichton is considered to be part of the Imperial Family, as are his siblings. Any attempt to injure them is treason against My Person and against My Empire."

"Further: That Aeryn Sun Crichton has been kidnapped by beings not yet known to me. If she is returned to her family unharmed, I will be merciful to those who return her. Those who ignore my clemency will suffer the consequences."

"Further: John Crichton has disappeared. I seek information concerning him." The field of view of the holo expanded. In front of Rygel was a truly stupendous pile of high denomination krendars. "Cost is no object."

"Hear and tremblingly obey."

The holo ended.

Aida crossed to me and threw her arms around me. "Your children are safe. We can have you in Hyneria inside a weeken."

I pulled away. "No! You have to help me find John."

Aida's smile faded. "Dominar Rygel has far greater resources than we do, certainly it would be better if.."

"No!" I said sharply. "Rygel has greater resources, but he also has greater problems. And, I can't do anything on Hyneria that Rygel's spies and soldiers can't do better. Here I can help."

I didn't add that there would always be in the back of my mind the fear that Rygel would do what was best for him. Nor did I voice my fear that Aida and her husband would also do what was best for them. If I stayed, they would have to help me to some extent or be exposed as hypocrites.

Aida turned to Rudy. "Can we get a message to Dominar Rygel that we rescued Aeryn and she's staying to look for John?"

Rudy shrugged. "We can send a message, but whether he would believe we weren't holding Aeryn against her will is another thing. We do not need conflict with Hyneria, Aida."

"Don't worry about that." I broke in. "I know Rygel and he knows me. He'll know I'd do anything to find John. He'd be surprised if I did otherwise. I can put things in the message that only he or my children would know, so they'll believe it's from me."

Aida, Kathleen and Rudy shared a look.

"All right." Said Aida. "But don't tell Rygel any more about us than you have to. We'd like to introduce ourselves to this universe when and where we're ready to."

The officer who'd brought the holo to us cleared his throat.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Aida said.

"The interrogation team got some very useful information from Vasa Corbellote. It seems he and his brother have a cache of intelligence documents on a planet near here, including the complete file on Mrs. Crichton and her family. It's in something called a shadow depository, which seems to be a super bank of some sort."

"I know what shadow depositories are, Lieutenant. They're more than just super banks. They're more heavily armed and armored than most planets. I'd hate to have to shoot our way into one.'

The lieutenant smiled and held up a sheaf of flimsies. "No problems, ma'am. We have all the security codes from our prisoner. We can just walk in, provide proof we're from Corbellote, open his personal strongbox with the proper codes, and then walk out. Corbellote gave us everything we need."

"Where is this shadow depository?" Asked Kathleen.

The lieutenant checked the flimsies. "The planet is called Droon. The depository is run by a female called Natira."

Aida looked at me. "Natira? Ever heard of her, Aeryn."

Natira. Yes, I had definitely heard of her. 


	8. Chapter 8

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Eight  
By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language. Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

I know her." I said sharply. "She ran a shadow depository that John and I raided many cycles ago. Apparently she tried to double cross Scorpius and our raid exposed her. She tortured John and wanted to scoop out his eyes. The last I saw of her, she was running from Scorpius. I'm surprised she's still alive. Very few cross Scorpius and survive."

Aida, Kathleen and Rudy exchanged another of those frelling looks. Was this what it was like for people that said that John and I communicated without talking?

Aida gave me a smile. "No problem that she knows you. We can send a team down to Droon to pick up the intel. This Natira will never even know you're within a hundred light years of her."

"No! Absolutely not! She couldn't have gotten a good look at me. Besides, this is my husband we're talking about. Suppose something goes wrong and we can only get to a part of the intelligence Natira is keeping? I can tell what relates to John at a glance. What if we…"

"What if you get killed and I have to explain it to John." Aida shot back. "Even if this Natira didn't get a good look at you then, you can bet she knows what you look like now."

I shook my head vigorously. "If either of us, or our husbands, were the types that played it safe all of the time, we'd probably have been killed off cycles ago by someone willing to take a risk. John and I have been risking our lives for each other since we first met. I will not change now."

Aida glared at me. "By the Goddess, but you are the most stubborn woman in the frelling universes! Why can't you just once."

"She can't, Mother, and you know it." Kathleen interrupted. "I suggest we move on to planning our scam with this shadow depository."

Aida glared at all and sundry. But when she spoke, her voice was calm. "Kathleen. You are in charge of planning this. Use whatever you need to make this work. I want a full briefing on this as soon as possible."

With that, our dinner party broke up.

I spent the next three days briefing Kathleen and her officers on everything about Natira, and about shadow depositories, that I could remember. I went over our assault on Natira's depository again and again. Strangely, it made me feel closer to John.

After three solar days, we were halfway to Droon. That's when all Hezmana broke loose.

I was sound asleep in my tiny stateroom when the alarm went off. Over the sound of the alarm I heard someone yelling, "General Quarters! All hands to General Quarters!"

I leaped out of bed, pulled on a dark blue coverall and shoved my feet into a pair of boots. I was out the door before I realized that I had no frelling idea what General Quarters meant.

Luckily, Kathleen came running past me and I followed her to the ship's Combat Information Center. I grabbed a chair in the back and tried to figure out what the frell was going on.

At that point, Aida strode in, looking like she was ready to review a full dress parade.

"Status?" She asked quietly as she sat in her command chair.

The _Agincourt_ had left the task force, and its commander, Admiral Nagumo, behind when we headed for Droon. I tried to remember the name of the _Agincourt's_ captain who turned to face Aida.

"We're just entering the Yabeena system, ma'am. It's supposed to be a fairly quiet system, which is why we set the rendezvous with _Scipio Africanus_ for here. However, there's all kinds of ship traffic in the inner solar system around their commerce planet."

Aida looked at the holo displays. "We seem to be a little far out from the commerce planet to see much."  
The officer nodded. "We sent a recon drone ahead of us, ma'am. The raw feed shows a lot…"

"Weapons fire." Another officer at a computer station broke in. "Some kind of heavy plasma weapon, ma'am. Just a couple of shots, but no sign they hit anything."

"Warning shots?" Someone muttered.

"How long before we can get a good picture of what's happening?" Aida asked.

There was some brief muttering among several of the officers.

"Two to three minutes, ma'am." The captain finally said.

"We're picking up comm chatter!" another officer broke in.

"Put it on." Aida snapped.

The brief, static filled communications we'd picked up spoke of a disaster of some sort.

"…hull breach in two places and atmosphere is failing…" Cried a Delvian voice.

"For the love of the Goddess, help us. We…." That transmission was cut off.

"Boarders are right outside the comm station. They are firing. I repeat…" That was terminated by the sound of pulse weapons fire.

"God's blood!" Aida snarled. "A raider!"

Aida stopped and looked around, obviously formulating a plan.

"Ma'am, you have to see this. It's feed from the recon drone."

Aida turned to the holo in front of her. What it showed was blurry and filled with static. But what it showed was also crystal clear.

"They're tossing the crews out their airlocks." Said a shocked voice.

"Are we in weapons range?" Aida barked.

"No, ma'am. Optimal range will be in.."

"I don't want optimal, Captain Dahlgren." Aida shot back. "I want to take a shot at that bastard to let him know a warship is on his ass and means business."

"We can launch from tubes one through eleven and get a shot right down his throat." Someone said. "Missiles are green as are defenses."

"Fire." Aida said quietly. "And hope the bastard comes after us."

I felt a succession of jolts, one after the other, as the missiles left the _Agincourt_. At first, the missiles streaked towards the raider like avenging angels, but the range was too great. Those that weren't destroyed by the raider's defenses ran out of fuel and self -destructed.

As nuclear fires blossomed around the raider, one of the officers spoke to Aida.

"We've got a visual on the raider from the drone, ma'am."

The holo by Aida's command chair showed a familiar black, bulky shape bisected by a circular deck.

"Damn!" Aida cursed and was silent for a microt. "Well, I always said I thought we could take a command carrier with _Agincourt_. Now we get to try." She smiled at her staff. "Okay, people. We've trained for this and we know how we want to do this. A course of 125 by 80 should take us directly away from that bastard."

There was a flurry of orders from the staff to various parts of the ship, and despite the grav compensators, I felt the ship turn away from the commerce planet. I watched the image of the command carrier. After longer than any captain I had served under would have allowed, the command carrier turned and lumbered after us.

Kathleen detached herself from a computer station and came over to sit by me.

"We've run simulations on how to take on most of the ships we might run into over here. Now we'll see how good our simulations are. First, we're going to try outrunning the command carrier. Our tactics depend, in part, on being faster than the carrier. That way we can hit and run, and with any luck he won't be able to hit or run."

I nodded and sat back to watch and wait. It wasn't long before something happened.

"Ma'am! We're being hailed by the command carrier."

Aida smiled. "Well, let's hear what our raider has to say then."

The face that appeared in the holo viewer was blurry, but the voice was clear.

"Unidentified warship. This is Grand Admiral Lutjens, Leader of the Refounded Peacekeepers. I demand that you surrender. Stop your engines at once."

We did nothing of the sort, and for a few microns, I got a better look at the Admiral's face. She was stocky with quivering double chins pushed up by her high collar. Strands of dirty blonde and grey hair hung around her round face.

"I demand that you surrender at once! Do you hear me! Do not defy me!" Her voice was rising to a shriek. "I demand, do you hear me, I demand…"

Someone cut the holo off.

"She has a high opinion of herself." Aida said with a smile. "Has anyone heard of her? For that matter has anyone ever heard of a Peacekeeper rank of Grand Admiral?"

Aida was looking straight at me. I shook my head.

Kathleen leaned over a computer station and brought up some data. She shook her head. "No Grand Admiral's of any sort and the only Lutjens in the intel database is a commando officer running operations on some god forsaken desert world called Li Min Tah." She glanced up at Aida. "Our data is by no means complete."

Aida laughed, a short sharp laugh. "By no means indeed."

"The command carrier is starting to close, ma'am." Someone said.

"What's our power output?" Aida asked.

"Sixty-two percent of full military power, ma'am."

"Raise it to sixty-four and see how they do."

And so it went for the next arn or so. The command carrier would start to close on _Agincourt_ and Aida would increase our power and the carrier would start sliding astern of us again. Then the carrier would start to gain on us. With the help of a calculator I'd been given, I managed to translate hech numbers to human multiples of light speed. As far as I could tell, the command carrier had reached about eighty-seven percent of her maximum speed while the humans were at about seventy-five percent of their maximum speed.

"Ma'am?" Called one of the officers. "Look at this."

A holo of the command carrier appeared. Something appeared to be streaming from the hammon side, but I couldn't tell what.

"Waste heat being expelled. By the Prophet, look at the heat signature of her engines. She's damn near ready to explode."

Aida shook her head. "Safety protocols will shut the engines down before that happens. But let's run our power up one percent more."

The command carrier seemed to visibly struggle to catch up with us, and then slowed down to less than half her former speed.

Aida smiled. It was the sort of smile I'd seen before on ship's captains.

"All right then. Let's go pay the bastards a visit." She turned to me. "Aeryn, max range for frag cannons is still forty thousand metras?"

I nodded. "The fact that they couldn't reach maximum speed may indicate their weapons systems are also degraded." I added.

Aida nodded. "We'll take no chances. Set a course straight at the target so that all missile tubes bear. Load a stonk and we'll fire at one hundred and twenty thousand kilometers. As soon as we fire, break to port."

"Aye aye, ma'am." Captain Dahlgren replied. "A stonk with all tubes bearing at one two zero thousand kilometers followed by a break to port."

I caught Kathleen's eye. "Stonk?" I mouthed. I knew I had a puzzled look on my face. It seemed to go with trying to communicate with humans.

She smiled and walked over to me. "Standard concentration, Aeryn. We have forty-four missile tubes. We'll fire eight penetration aids. Missiles designed to interfere with the defensive fire control of an enemy ship so the rest of the missiles have an easier time hitting her. The other thirty-six tubes will fire standard anti-ship missiles. Detonation lasers."

Again, I could feel the ship turning, this time towards the command carrier. The carrier had slowed down even more and was turning back towards the commerce planet it had been raiding.

"Should we ask for a surrender?" Captain Dahlgren asked.

Aida shrugged. "We should. But I hope that the Grand Admiral fights."

Someone reopened the comm channel that the so-called Grand Admiral had used to contact us. She was still trying to contact us, but in her frustration she'd been reduced to screaming obscenities at us. Aida briefly demanded her surrender. Lutjens didn't appear to notice, but continued shrieking at us.

"Cut the comms." Aida said with a wolfish smile. "Now she can learn what it's like to be defenseless."

"Ships launching from target, ma'am."

My eyes shot back to the holo of the command carrier. No doubt about it, a half squadron or so of Prowlers shot out of the command carrier's hangars.

"What the frell are they doing?" I asked under my breath.

"What indeed?" Aida added.

Instead of immediately assuming an attack formation and heading for us, the Prowler squadron was milling around trying to get organized.

"Christ. Two of them collided." Someone muttered.

"Keep an eye on them. Let us know if they manage to get organized." Aida said. "How long until we fire?"

"Two minutes and eight seconds, ma'am."

A human style clock face appeared on the holo. I watched as the hands slowly ticked off the time remaining.  
I felt a series of heavy thumps as the missiles fired and sped towards the raider. At forty thousand metras, the carrier started firing all of its weapons. Almost two dozen missiles were destroyed. That left four penetration aids missiles and fifteen ship killers left. Almost simultaneously the missiles exploded, pumping giga-joules of nuclear energy into laser energy. The lasers cut through the carrier's armor and deep into its interior. Bulkheads ruptured, opening the ship to space. Men, women and children died from vacuum exposure, shrapnel and the lasers.

"Can we get a feed from the recon drone?" Dahlgren asked.

A close up of the command carrier appeared in the holo screen. It appeared to be dead in space. I did see some escape pods shoot out from the ship. They were destroyed by frag cannon fire.

"Jesus!" Someone whispered.

"Captain. That looney admiral is still broadcasting. You should hear this shit."

The holo changed to show Grand Admiral Lutjens. She was sitting quietly at her command station. A headless corpse floated in zero gravity behind her.

She spoke very quietly. "I am surrounded by traitors, by people who simply are too small minded to understand my sacred mission. The Peacekeepers have become weak and corrupt. I must reform them and return them to the golden age that our leaders have allowed to slip away." She suddenly looked at a monitor just within our view. "More traitors are trying to desert. Lieutenant Bowans, destroy them. Destroy them all."

Lieutenant Bowans, whoever he or she was, made no response.

"Even Bowans is a traitor." She snarled, reaching over to punch a button. I could see the holo shake and heard the explosion. Lutjens stared out of the holo with a serene smile on her face.

"There was an internal explosion on the target." Someone announced.

"Let's get this over with." Aida said tiredly. "We'll launch ten ship killers from sixty thousand kilometers. That should do it."

It did. There was no defensive fire and at least one of the command carrier's fusion bottles breached. The ship was destroyed.

"Ma'am? We're getting a message from the Prowlers that launched earlier."

"Put it on." Aida replied. "I hope this one is saner than the last one."

"No visual on this transmission, ma'am." Dahlgren said.

"Attention unidentified warship. This is Lieutenant Redd. I wish to surrender my command. I take full responsibility for our actions. I beg you not to punish my command for my crimes."

"What the hell is she talking about?" Aida asked. No one had a reply.

"This is Vice-Marshall Aida O'Donnell. I will accept your surrender under the Laws of War. You will be treated as prisoners of war, you have my word on that. However, if you, or any of your subordinates, are guilty of crimes, I will be compelled to try you."

There was a brief pause. Then Lieutenant Redd spoke. "I have no choice. We will surrender."

Aida and her officers decided to take no chances. Redd was told to assemble her command ten thousand kilometers away from _Agincourt_. From there, ship's boats would take off the pilots. That way no one would try to crash into the _Agincourt_ or blow up their engines inside the hangar. Once they'd been checked for booby traps, the Prowlers would be brought aboard.

Kathleen and I headed for the boat deck to meet the incoming prisoners. As soon as they started leaving the ship's boats, the reason for their poor performance was clear.

"They're children." Kathleen gasped.

She was right. Not one of them could have been over fourteen cycles old and most were younger. They were trying to act brave, but they all looked like they were about to burst into tears.

The last Peacekeeper off was obviously Lieutenant Redd. The thought crossed my mind that I had heard that name before, but I couldn't remember where.

Redd herself was tall, slender and quite old for her rank. Her deeply tanned face was unlined, but her hair was white. She was escorted to us by a human soldier. I noticed that she limped.

"This is the enemy commander, ma'am." The soldier announced.

Kathleen nodded. "You are responsible for leading these children into combat?" She asked coldly.

Redd nodded. "I take full responsibility for everything. Any punishment is mine alone. The cadets are not in any way responsible for what has happened. I alone should be punished. I take full responsibility for…."

Kathleen waved her into silence. "You and they are now prisoners of war and are protected by the Laws of War. We shall have to see if anyone is guilty of anything."

Lieutenant Redd nodded. "Are you the commander of this ship, ma'am?"

Kathleen shook her head. "Chief intelligence officer. If you will accompany us, Lieutenant Redd?"

Redd fell in between the two of us and we headed for Kathleen's office.

"You're not Peacekeepers." Redd said. "And not Sebaceans."

Kathleen nodded. "We're humans." That was not exactly a lie based on what we knew of Sebacean history.

Redd looked at us like we were mad. "Humans don't have this kind of military technology."

Kathleen gave Redd a brief rundown on human history as it had occurred in her universe. She was careful not to imply that her captors were a relatively small group of refugees. I suppose it was better if Redd thought of humans as an irresistible and unified power.

When we reached Kathleen's office, a half a dozen or so of her people were there first. Rudy was sitting quietly in a corner.

Kathleen sat down behind her desk and I took a seat beside her.

"Please sit, Lieutenant." Kathleen said, gesturing to a chair in front of the desk.

Redd looked positively amazed at the treatment, but sat. One of the soldiers put a tray of food on the front of the desk with a large container of fruit juice.

"Please feel free to have something to eat and drink." Kathleen said with a smile.

Redd stared at us for a microt or two. "You're not going to use an aurora chair?" She asked suspiciously.

Kathleen shook her head. "We have other means of gathering intelligence. In your case, you appear to want to cooperate with us. That's good. A willing intelligence source is the best kind. I will warn you that we do have other sources of intelligence, so if you lie to us, we'll eventually catch you. Then we'll use other means to interrogate you."

Redd nodded. "That's reasonable. What do you want to know?"

"Everything." Kathleen replied. "Start at the beginning and go from there."

Redd looked at the container of fruit juice. She shrugged, took a drink and began to talk.

Redd's story was all too common among Peacekeepers in the last twenty cycles or so.

Her ship, the _Agricola_ , had been based in the Hynerian Empire. They had been there for dozens of cycles, using Hynerian Navy resources to maintain their command carrier. When Rygel returned to the Empire at Bishan's invitation, things had started to change, although very slowly at first.

The _Agricola_ no longer had the highest priority for repairs at the Hynerian Navy's orbital shipyard. They had to wait for Hynerian ships to be repaired. Hynerian factories suddenly had other priorities when the ship needed spare parts. Local farmers who had grown Sebacean food switched to Hynerian foods, forcing the Agricola to import expensive food from a distant Sebacean agricultural colony.

The longer this went on, the worse things got. Finally Captain Lutjens had demanded to meet with the Hynerian planetary governor to demand that the Hynerians provide her ship with what it needed. To her surprise, the Hynerian governor had been joined by a Luxan admiral who had apparently taken service under Rygel.

Lutjens made her demands, but the Hynerian just stared at her with a smirk on his face.

"Perhaps you should see this, Captain Lutjens." He said, pointing to a comm screen. In the screen's display, Lutjens could see three battle cruisers swinging out from behind the local moon.

The governor's smile widened. "Admiral Ga R'ith has joined us with three battle cruisers and a full complement of support vessels."

Lutjens could see the display showing one heavy monitor, a scout cruiser and numerous assault piercers following the battle cruisers.

"I think the time for you to make demands is past, Captain Lutjens." The governor said, gloating. "The Hynerian Empire has enough firepower here to destroy your command carrier with very little chance of any serious damage to ourselves. That being the case, I will now make a demand of you. A non-negotiable demand, Captain. You will leave Hynerian space and never return. If you do return, you will be treated as a pirate and destroyed.'

Lutjens had been speechless with rage. She was even more outraged when she found that her commando escort had been disarmed by the Luxan admiral's troops. Lutjens had no choice but to return to her ship and leave Hynerian space.

Lutjens headed for the nearest Peacekeeper base, optimistic that there she would find help in putting those Hynerians firmly in their place. Alas, she found no such thing. With the end of the threat from the Scarren Empire, much had changed for the Peacekeepers. And much of this had escaped Captain Lutjens' notice.

The Luxans found no reason to continue to support the Peacekeepers militarily and in many instances, as Lutjens had seen, Luxans were offering their services to enemies of the Peacekeepers. On Hyneria, Rygel had built up his navy and had made alliances wherever he could. This was helped by a low level, but clever, propaganda campaign stating that Dominar Rygel had been responsible for the creation of the wormhole weapon and the subsequent peace between the Scarrens and Peacekeepers. Bishan was inexorably loosing power and soon, just disappeared.

Peacekeeper Command had bluntly informed Lutjens that the Hynerian Empire was far too powerful to attack. In addition, without the resources of the Hynerians to draw upon, the Peacekeepers were hard pressed to keep their fleet at full war footing.

Lutjens was advised that her command carrier, being elderly and in need of serious maintenance, would be decommissioned. Lutjens and most of her crew were to be resettled on Sebacean agricultural colonies to hold themselves in readiness should the Peacekeepers need them again. Lutjens knew that would probably never happen.

Faced with spending the remainder of her life on some backwards planet, lording it over a handful of impoverished peasants, Lutjens chose to go renegade. Her crew, for the most part willingly, went with her, seeing no other choice.

Lutjens began raiding the fringes of the Hynerian Empire. This brought the attentions of the Imperial Hynerian Navy as well as that of the Peacekeepers. If the Peacekeepers only went through the motions of hunting the renegade, the Hynerians made every effort to destroy _Agricola_. In addition, the tramp freighters and agricultural planets that were _Agricola's_ usual targets had little in the way of the high tech supplies needed to keep a command carrier in operation. Worse, there was a small but steady drain of desertions whenever any crew were landed on a planet. Many Peacekeepers found life as a renegade not to their liking.

Lutjens decided that her only recourse was to raid a Peacekeeper supply depot. She had found that, due to the general rundown of Peacekeeper forces, there were some that were not nearly as well guarded as they should have been.

The raid was both a total success and a disaster. The supply depot had been even less well guarded than Lutjens had thought, and had even more supplies than had been expected. Lutjens got away with her ship's holds crammed with needed supplies and took a merchant ship as a prize to carry additional supplies away.

However, a good fraction of her crew was appalled that they were now fighting other Peacekeepers. Sullen talk soon became the order of the day in some sections of the _Agricola_ , and talk quickly turned to plotting a mutiny. The plotters were incautious and one of Captain Lutjens' spies soon discovered the plot. The plotters and many who simply couldn't prove their abject loyalty to Lutjens were subjected to the living death.

Captain Lutjens assembled the surviving crew and addressed them. She told them that the Peacekeepers they had previously served had become corrupt and incompetent. She unilaterally promoted herself to the rank of Grand Admiral, a rank previously unknown to the Peacekeepers and, for good measure, proclaimed herself the leader of the Refounded Peacekeepers, whose mission was to return the Peacekeepers to their long lost glory.

Lutjens still had problems, though. Through desertion or mutiny, she had lost a good quarter of her officers and almost as many crewmembers. _Agricola_ was desperately short handed for a warship that was, in effect, at war with everyone.

"That's where I came in." Redd said around a mouthful of food. "Due to wounds and age, I had been retired to an agricultural commune on a planet called Xian. I was just starting to get used to being dirt-bound when Lutjens showed up."

"Lutjens conscripted everyone on the planet that she thought could serve her ship. A few tried to refuse. They, and their families, were executed."

"I had led a Prowler division on the old _Serapis_ and found myself leading one again. " Redd shook her head and smiled sadly. "By Cholak, what a cluster frell _Agricola's_ Strike Group was. Commander Bernal had been promoted from Junior Lieutenant based solely on his loyalty to Lutjens. As a pilot he was adequate and as a commander, he was useless. Senior Officer Ffulke led the Marauders and was competent enough. At least he would have been if he hadn't been so terrified of Lutjens that he wouldn't do anything for fear of antagonizing her. It did him no good. She executed him anyway. The Prowlers were led by Lieutenant Org. He kissed Lutjens fat eema like mad until the day he successfully deserted. That put me in charge of the Prowlers."

Redd stopped and stared at the ceiling. I could see tears welling in her eyes. "You've seen my pilots. Children, who shouldn't have been allowed to sit in a Prowler's cockpit."

"And there, lording it over everyone, was so-called Grand Admiral Lutjens, mad as a demented drannit and becoming more insane every day. She saw plots everywhere. She trusted no one, not even her bloody enforcer, Lieutenant Bowans. Bowans! I hope Cholak eats that bitch slowly."

Redd blinked back her tears and continued. "Of course, nothing went wrong because my pilots had virtually no training, or because we were short of skilled techs to keep our Prowlers flying. All that bitch Lutjens saw was treason and plots against her. She had two of my pilots executed because they crashed their Prowlers on landing. Proof of treason, she said. They were children! Frelling children."

"We were lucky in one thing. Somehow that madwoman realized that if she executed everyone that frelled up, her whole frelling crew would be dead in a monen. Soon plotting mutiny and treason was only punishable by a few arns in an aurora chair."

Rudy broke in. "I presume you were punished?"

Redd nodded. "I took the blame for whatever went wrong. I could handle the aurora chair and Lutjens' torturers better than my poor pilots could."

"You were tortured by this Lieutenant Bowans?" Rudy asked.

"No. The aurora chair was for minor infractions. Being tortured by Bowans personally meant a death sentence. She was too sadistic to stop once she got started. I was tortured by Bowans' assistants."

Rudy nodded. "I assume that explains your limp and the fact that you're bleeding on Kathleen's carpet."

Kathleen shot to her feet. "Dammit, Rudy. What the frell did you mean by sitting there letting her bleed?"

Rudy smiled and waved his hands in a dismissive gesture. "The good doctor M'Boya will be along presently. I sent a text message to him when I noticed the bleeding. However, I did want to establish Lieutenant Redd's version of events before the doctor examined her."

Kathleen was about to respond, but M'Boya pushed the door open and promptly let everyone know who was now in charge.

"Everyone but Kathleen and Aeryn, out now!" He rumbled.

Rudy smiled ingratiatingly at the doctor. "I'm afraid that I insist that I stay. In my official capacity, of course."

M'Boya glared at him.

"My dear doctor," Rudy continued, "You could throw me out of here easily, but how much time would that take?"

M'Boya muttered something under his breath and turned to examine Redd. After questioning her about her injuries, M'Boya told her to strip.

"Why did you send the others out of the room?" Redd asked.

"What does that have to do with anything?" M'Boya growled back.

Rudy laughed. "We weren't sending any inconvenient witnesses out of the room, Lieutenant. Humans, unlike Peacekeepers, are not born on spaceships and live their entire lives on them. Humans have a bit more of a need for privacy in their more intimate acts, such as being given a medical examination. Dr. M'Boya merely extended that courtesy to you."

"And humans wouldn't send witnesses out of the room if they planned on executing you. Humans believe in the positive encouragement that a good public execution provides." Rudy stopped for a microt. "Come to think of it, my own people do love a good beheading."

Redd stripped her flight suit off. She had indeed been tortured. She had bruises all over her body. Some were an old and faded to a purplish brown and some were so new they were still swollen. Dr. M'Boya examined her and was becoming visibly angry as he did so.

"This woman has been tortured." M'Boya said, glaring at all of us. "There is damage to nearly all of her joints, as if they've been intentionally hyper-extended. She has several fractured ribs. She has suffered soft tissue trauma and I'm seeing the residuals of a concussion. The only reason she isn't flat on her face is that she's on some sort of painkiller plus something like adrenaline. She's going to sick bay right now."

M'Boya grabbed a comm from Kathleen's desk and began ordering a couple of nurses and a gurney.

Redd gave us an odd look. "You let medical techs tell you what to do?"

Kathleen shook her head. "Surgeon-Major M'Boya is a commissioned officer. And I agree with him. Please remember what I told you about the value of willing intelligence sources."

"And remember that we have other sources and other options." Rudy finished.

Several nurses and a gurney arrived and Dr. M'Boya fussed over getting Redd onto the gurney and starting some medication.

While this was going on, Rudy had a discussion with a couple of Kathleen's intelligence officers. When M'Boya left with his patient, Rudy came over to us.

"I think Lieutenant Redd has some definite possibilities, Kathleen."

Kathleen raised an eyebrow. "I hope you're not thinking of using her as an agent. She's gone through a hell of a lot. I think she needs a long rest."

Rudy shook his head. "An agent? Oh, never. She doesn't have the personality for it for one. Entirely too open to begin with. But she could be useful in dealing with disaffected Peacekeepers."

"Aha!" Kathleen replied. "And what have you been doing, using my people?"

"I've had them de-briefing her pilots."

Kathleen shook her head. "Rudy, dammit, they're only children and they've been through a hell of a lot as well."

"The best time to interrogate them, of course." Rudy shot back. "Do you know that her second in command, Cadet Pilot Morr, insists that he's really in command and that Lieutenant Redd is just a figure head? He insists that he's responsible for the acts of the Prowler unit. We didn't leave them alone so they could cook up a story between them, but the rest of her pilots are doing their best to protect her. Quite honorable, if pointless."

"Rudy, do you really have to do this?"

Rudy nodded. "I'm afraid so. It appears that even by the rather lax standards of 31st century humanity, Lieutenant Redd may have committed war crimes."

Kathleen nodded and took a quick look around the room. "Let's keep this under wraps, people. We'll have to live here for the rest of our lives, so let's not go accusing anyone of anything until we have all the facts. And I do not want to hear any rumors about Lieutenant Redd either."

Kathleen was answered by a chorus of "Yes ma'ams".

I had been discharged from the sick bay and had been given quarters with Aida's staff officers. Kathleen and I walked back through the crowded, narrow passageways of the _Agincourt_ to our quarters.

"You've said several times that you have sources of intelligence in the Uncharted Territories." I began. "Have you really been here long enough to set up an intelligence network?"

"Nothing like we used to have, Aeryn. But we've done all right."

I gave her a stare.

Kathleen laughed. "Okay, but this goes no further."

I shook my head. "I share everything with my husband."

Kathleen didn't say anything for several microts. Finally she spoke.

"I can live with that. You only need the abridged version, anyway."

"When we first got here, all of our information about this universe was twenty plus years out of date. You know what a hell of a lot has happened in that time. Our first actions were routine. We sent out frigates and had them track merchant ships to commerce planets. Once we found the commerce planets, we had the frigates set up at the edge of the solar system, actually out in the Oort clouds, where no one would look for a strange warship. All they needed to do was sit there with their comm channels open and pick up whatever comm traffic was being broadcast."

"You'd hardly get anything but routine news." I broke in.

"We didn't even have that much when we got here. Later, when our industrial base at Arsenal was up and running, we put drones out in the Oort clouds to do the same kind of eavesdropping. In time, we had broken a few low level merchant's codes and whatnot. Once every few months, we'd send a warship in to download all the traffic and get it analyzed. We've picked up a lot of good information."

"Not that good." I retorted.

"Very good, Aeryn. Very good. We needed something better than that. So we used _Scipio Africanus_."

"Who is?" I asked sharply. What was it with human speech?

"Not who, what." Kathleen replied. " _Scipio Africanus_ is a 56 tube armored cruiser, and the ship we're rendezvousing with to go to the shadow depository. Screaming Skippy, as she's known, was built for commerce raiding. Big enough to kill anything smaller than a battleship and fast enough to run away from anything she can't fight. Given all the raiders operating in space these days, we decided to use _Scipio_ as a blockade runner. Anyone who wanted a nice safe trip from one planet to the next, or wanted to send low volume, high value goods safely, learned that _Scipio_ was their best bet. And our wealthy clients were more than happy to give us all the intel they had on the political and military situation in their area. After all, it was their goods and sometimes their lives on the line."

"We crewed _Scipio Africanus_ with a mix of humans and some K'hiffs. We told everyone we were from a long lost Sebacean colony and having lost a civil war, had been traveling for fifty cycles since being exiled from our home."

"Lately we've added something new. We've landed a few "Sebacean" merchants on friendly commerce planets. They have lots of money and deal in expensive luxuries, such as liquors, spices, art work, anti-senescence drugs, and jewelry. Naturally, they have an interest in the wealthy and powerful on the planets they settle on since those are their clients, hopefully."

"Oh," Kathleen said with a smile as we reached my quarters, "we've told all of our people to be on the lookout for a human named John Crichton."

I felt better for a microt until I walked into my tiny metal cabin and saw the bed I would sleep in alone tonight. Frell! I hated sleeping alone.

The interrogation of Lieutenant Redd continued the next evening in the sick bay under the supervision of, and over the protests of, Dr. M'Boya. Off of the high doses of Peacekeeper medication that had kept her going, Redd looked much worse.

It turned out that Rudy had been right. Lutjens had operated on the principle that dead beings tell no tales and had a policy of killing the crews of ships she raided. Once, Redd told us, they had chased a large merchantman only to find out it was full of HaKazz pilgrims. Lutjens needed food, but HaKazz food was incompatible with the Sebacean digestive tract. In a rage, Lutjens had ordered Redd to use the ship as target practice for her Prowlers. Over twelve thousand peaceful pilgrims had died. That had hardly been the only massacre that Redd and her pilots had been involved in.

However, the interviews with the other prisoners established that Redd had repeatedly tried to prevent such crimes and had been repeatedly tortured by Lutjens for her efforts.

As Cadet Pilot Morr put it in one of his interviews, "Lutjens was insane, but not so insane that she didn't realize that if she executed everyone for their "crimes", she'd be all alone on the frelling ship. But everyone frelling well knew she'd torture anyone who stood up to her, and that she would execute some if they pushed too hard. And no one really knew if she wasn't so insane that she would eventually kill us all. And so she kept us in control."

The Prowler pilots also told us that Redd was being tortured when we came upon _Agricola._ When the chase started, Redd had somehow convinced her torturers that a ship that could easily outrun a command carrier might be such a danger to their ship that every experienced officer would be needed. The torturers were almost more afraid of Lutjens than the strange warship, but they had finally agreed that Redd would "escape" from custody, command her Prowlers and then return for additional punishment for escaping.

Finally, Redd was brought before Aida. In addition to her, Kathleen, Rudy, M'Boya, myself, and a young looking Guards officer acting as recorder met in Aida's office. We sat behind a long desk with the insignia of Human Forces Command and a mass of unit flags behind us. Redd was standing in front of us the Alert Position. She wore a simple orange coverall marked with the human letter "P" for prisoner. Two armed soldiers stood behind her.

Aida began. "Lieutenant Redd, formerly of the Peacekeeper command Carrier _Agricola_ , although I am not required to so advise you, the panel considering your actions finds that your subordinates are guilty of no wrongdoing under the Laws of War and will remain as prisoners of war with no further action to be taken against them."

Redd nodded and smiled. "Thank you. I assure you that my pilots were not in any way responsible for any of the actions my unit took. The responsibility is mine alone and I am prepared to face my punishment."

Aida nodded. "The records presented to me indicate that you have committed heinous acts against your fellow beings. Acts that clearly contravene the Laws of War and require, let me repeat require, capital punishment." 


	9. Chapter 9

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Nine  
By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language. Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

Redd nodded, but said nothing.

Aida went on. "You have a most impressive advocate in Surgeon-Major M'Boya. He has bombarded me with case studies on the effects of physical duress, the doctrine of diminished capacity and others too numerous to mention."

"I could refresh your memory, Vice Marshall, if you wish." M'Boya rumbled from the end of the desk.

"No need." Aida said. She stared hard at Redd. "I must advise you, Lieutenant, that at my level, there is a political dimension to be considered. I find myself in a new universe where my kind of humans are unknown and where the human Laws of War do not apply outside of my own command. Accordingly, I find myself unwilling to bring charges in this case as I cannot predict the political ramifications that would follow."

However, Lieutenant Redd, I will advise you that if a duly constituted government were to charge you with a crime, I would have to very seriously consider handing you over to them for trial. In the meantime, you are to be considered a prisoner of war. Do you have anything to say?"

Redd had obviously been expecting the usual fate of renegade Peacekeepers; a trip out the nearest airlock. She gulped, looked around and finally remembered to be grateful.

"No, ma'am. Nothing to say, ma'am. Thank you." She said in a rush.

"If I may speak?" Dr. M'Boya interrupted.

"Like we could stop you." Rudy muttered.

M'Boya ignored him. "Lieutenant Redd is still my patient. The long term effects of her injuries are unknown. In addition, I find the treatment of children as prisoners of war to be repugnant. I see no reason that they should be transferred to a prisoner of war camp to be put…"

Aida waved M'Boya into silence. "To begin with, we have no prisoner of war camps. Such prisoners as we had on the other side were either released or joined us. I'm not inclined to build and staff a camp for the benefit of Lieutenant Redd and a few children."

Aida gave a long hard stare at M'Boya. "I believe that putting them under the custody of Provost Sergeant McGarry, at least while they are aboard ship, is the most reasonable solution. Their permanent status can be considered at a later date. I am sure that Dr. M'Boya will provide me with advice on that. Am I correct?"

M'Boya was about to reply, but Aida kept going.

"That being the case, this panel is adjourned. Doctor, you may return your patient to the sick bay."

M'Boya hustled Redd out. The Guards lieutenant left, mumbling about having the minutes put in the record at once.

That left Aida, Kathleen, Rudy and me sitting alone.

"That worked out quite well." Rudy said with a satisfied smile.

"Dammit, Rudy." Aida barked, "We didn't do this for the sake of your damned plots. The woman did murder innocent people by the shipload and planetful. That she did so under extreme duress is something that a duly constituted court martial should consider. And I wasn't kidding about the politics I have to consider. I have no wish to antagonize any of the endless factions out here, most of whom I know nothing about. Too many renegade Peacekeepers are like that lunatic Lutjens. But some are rebelling against what they see as corruption at the highest level of the Peacekeeper High Command. I can't afford to make a mistake and I may still have to hand her over for execution by some wronged party."

Rudy smiled. "True. Quite true, Aida. But Lieutenant Redd has seen our brutal military side, the brutal, victorious side, I might add, and now she's seen that we can be merciful. It shouldn't be too hard for a skilled operative to convince her that an alliance with Human Forces Command would be in the best interests of everyone."

"Just make sure she volunteers, Rudy. "I don't want her to be volunteered."

"Perish the thought." Rudy replied primly.

Aida stood up, ready to leave, but Rudy wasn't done.

"By the way, Aida, I think I have Aeryn's legend worked out."

That caught my attention. "I am not a legend. My husband deserves to be one, but…."

I noticed that everyone was smiling at me. What the frell was wrong with human languages? What had I misunderstood now?

Rudy assumed a more serious mien. "Sorry, Aeryn. Just a bit of tradecraft talk there, I'm afraid. Since you've insisted on going to the shadow depository where this Natira being may recognize you, we need to change who you are. To give you a new life history. A legend as we call it."

I wasn't sure I liked not being Aeryn Sun Crichton, but I could see their point.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked.

Everyone smiled.

In an arn I was standing in front of a mirror examining my "new" self. My hair was reddish brown and my eyes were a deep green.

"Don't worry." Kathleen said. "The colors will fade in a month or so."

"I do suggest a re-coloring just before we get to Droon, just in case." Rudy said. That prompted a chorus of "hmmms" from Aida and Kathleen.

Artificial flesh had been added to my cheeks and chin so that my face was now rounder.

I also wore a uniform much like the rest of the human soldiers aboard ship. Highly polished black boots, khaki trousers, a dark green jacket over a black high necked shirt, and an odd cap called a kepi on my head. The cap featured a highly polished black leather brim with a bright red headband and a light blue top. The cap was tilted rakishly over one eye.

"The chasseur kepi indicates you served in the _Chasseurs d'Auricania_." Aida told me. "Many of our people wear some sort of "tribal" gear to mark service in a previous unit, or show some sort of ethnic or religious affiliation. The _Chasseurs_ were a division sized task force that held Auracania against all comers for a dozen years. Eventually Auricania got a negotiated settlement instead of an invasion. They did all right. We picked up a lot of the _Chasseurs_ when they left Auricania and disbanded."

Aida tapped the insignia on my shoulders. "Your shoulder boards show the rank of lieutenant colonel. The backing color is blue to show you're infantry and it's bordered in gold to show you're part of the Marshall's Guard Regiment."

Aida then tapped the bottom of my left sleeve where three dench long strips of red had been sewn. "Blood stripes. Each one indicates a wound."

I raised an eyebrow. "I have a lot more scars than three wounds would account for."

Aida nodded. "True. But the only wounds that would count would be those you got with Marshall O'Donnell's Corps."

Before I could reply, she tapped the bottom on my right sleeve. Sewn there was an odd looking cloth insignia, a gold circle with red flames coming out of the top. "Combat Sappers Badge. It means you were assigned to a unit that got to force their way into heavily defended locality. Sappers are also referred to by the encouraging name of "the forlorn hope."

Next Aida indicated on odd half circle silver metal object above my right breast pocket.

"Since you were a commando trained Peacekeeper, we decided to give you drop infantry wings. That means to go into battle you'd be dropped on a hostile planet in an egg shaped one person entry pod. Drogue 'chutes and retro rockets would keep you from burning up when you entered the atmosphere and when you got low enough, the pod would pop open and you'd parachute the rest of the way to the ground."

"With people shooting at you from the moment you left your ship." Rudy added.

Next Aida ran her finger along a row of ribbons over my left breast pocket. "Mercenaries don't have much use for campaign medals, or awards for valor, or such like. They're in it for the money. The ribbon on your right shows you graduated from the Friesland Staff College. That means that you're not just a talented killer, but that you have a brain."

"The white ribbon with the red cross on it shows you qualified as a Healer in the one year course given at St. John's of New Jerusalem. Damned few combat troops would bother with that one, so it also says you're a bit of an eccentric."

"The last one, the green and yellow ribbon on the other end indicates you qualified as a trainer of brigade or regimental staffs at the Potsdam Academy."

"Aida, no one in this universe will know what these are."

Rudy replied. "The secret to success as an agent is to steer close to the truth, make all your lies believable and capable of being verified, and never going out of character."

"There's another thing, Aeryn." Kathleen added. "We have no idea how long the search for John might go on. Almost all of the people who know that Aeryn Sun Crichton is aboard this ship are the types that don't talk. The more people that know you're here, the more any bad guys who might be involved will stay away from us. However, another nearly anonymous human soldier won't be of any interest to anyone."

What Kathleen did not say was that if John were dead, the killers would be sure to stay clear of his widow and any of his friends. They wouldn't be so cautious about a bunch of humans who couldn't possibly know anyone named John and Aeryn Crichton.

Rudy smiled. "Now, shall we continue, Lieutenant Colonel de Castries?"

"That's me?" I asked.

Rudy nodded.

I began learning about my self.

I was Claudine de Castries, the daughter of a minor noble on the planet Oranais. Like many poor humans with pretensions of nobility, he had left his home planet to seek service as a soldier of fortune. He had not prospered and had died young, leaving behind a young daughter who was raised as a ward of the planetary government of Gascogne. Gascogne was not generous to the children of her fallen mercenaries and I had received a slap-dash education by human standards. At seventeen it was "suggested" that I should seek service elsewhere. I had then enlisted in the _Chasseurs d'Auricania_.

I had then….

Frell, frell, frell.

I had an unending parade of units, planets, comrades and battles to memorize. The only thing that kept me at it was that if I stopped, I started thinking about John. The more I thought about John, the more I thought about the possibility of his death. The probability of his death. The certainty….

Frell, frell, frell.

I kept working on learning my new background for another several arns, but I finally had to quit. I couldn't stop thinking about John and what he might be going through while I just sat and did nothing. I grabbed my kepi and walked out the door. I had no idea where I was headed for, but anything had to be better than this.

"Good day, Colonel de Castries. Out for a walk?"

I nodded as Rudy caught up to me and began walking with me.

"Sometimes when things get to be too much, it's good to just relax for a few moments." Rudy said solicitously.

I grunted a reply.

"I like to go to McGarry's Garden, myself."

The name was familiar. "McGarry? I've heard than name before."

Rudy grinned. "He's the Provost Sergeant. He's in charge of Lieutenant Redd and her pilots."

"Odd person to have a garden." I replied.

Rudy shrugged. "Mercenaries have little need for prisons. Serious offenders are usually executed. Serious offenders who aren't quite eligible for execution are just kicked out of the unit and become someone else's problem. That leaves the usual selection of defaulters. People who regularly drink too much, fight their comrades, damage equipment, and so on. For their sins they spend a week or two with Sergeant McGarry doing difficult work on minimal rations."

"And this involves a garden how?" I persisted.

"When _Agincourt_ was overhauled a few years ago, she ended up with a small open space that had no apparent use. McGarry decided he needed a garden."

"Humans aren't born in space like Peacekeepers. A ship like this may be home to you, but not to humans. So they bring a little something of their planets with them."

"Ah! Here we are." Rudy said.

We walked out onto a long balcony. Half a deck below us was an area of some twenty metras by four or five metras. Most of it was covered in the green grass I remembered from Earth. In addition there were small trees, hedges and flower beds. I stood there for a microt remembering that Earth was, indeed, a beautiful planet. In the center was a small fountain made to look like a natural spring flowing from some rocks.

Two people were working in the garden. One was Redd, still dressed in a bright orange, one piece jumpsuit with a large letter "P" on it. She sat on a small stool, sprinkling some sort of liquid in minute quantities on the flowers in front of her. Redd had changed. She looked older now that she was off of her Peacekeeper medications, but she seemed to be out from under the great weight of her responsibilities. I decided she looked better.

The other one, less than a metra away from Redd, was a human who looked familiar.

"McAuslan is back I see." Rudy muttered.

"I thought he was a member of an elite unit." I asked. "They usually aren't the sort to be chronic disciplinary problems."

"McAuslan is unique." Rudy replied, shaking his head and smiling. "Apparently some odd and garbled accounts of Redd's adventures and problems have reached the ears of the hoi polloi in spite of Kathleen's warnings. It's a shame Redd doesn't understand Glaswegian, since McAuslan's small talk is designed to comfort and advise her."

Rudy stopped talking and we listened to McAuslan.

"…mind you, auld yin, there's this tae be said for bein' in the nick, ye get yer room an' board, an' at your time o' life the wogs are nae gaun tae pit ye tae breakin' rocks, sure'n they're no? Ah dae ken whit it's like in a Pea Kay cooler, but ach! they'll no be hard on ye. An' ye never know, mebbe ye'll get a chance tae go ower the wa' again. They tell me ye've been ay-woll a'ready frae the Pea Kay. Jings, that's sumpin'. Aye, but- mah advice tae ye is, don't try it while ye're here, for any favor, becuz that big bastard McGarry's got eyes in his erse, an ye widnae get by the gate. Nae, jist you wait till ra wogs come for ye, an' bide yer time an' scram when their back's turned- they're no' organized at a', ra wogs. Weel, ye ken that yersel'. Aye, but ye'll no be as nippy as ye were…..ach, but mebbe it'll no be so bad. Whitever it's like it cannae be worse'n getting' liftit by the Marine Division in Gleska, no kiddin'. See them? Buncha animals, so they are. Did Ah no tell ye aboot the time Ah got done, after the Cup Final? It wis like this, see…."

I smiled when I saw the look of bewilderment on Redd's face. What the frell was it with human speech?

Well, I had been listening to human speech for decades now and I knew she was better off listening to even McAuslan than she would be listening to any Peacekeeper.

Rudy and I stood there for a while listening to McAuslan's nearly incomprehensible ramblings. When I finally went back to my quarters, I noticed I felt better and also closer to John.

Deep in interstellar space the next day, we rendezvoused with _Scipio Africanus_.

We had a conference with the senior officers of the _Scipio Africanus_. The conference wasn't long. Our plan was simple. The two ships would go into orbit over Droon and send our small party down in a lander. Kathleen, pretending to represent Vasa Corbellote, would go to the shadow depository with a small party of troops, including Lt. Col. Claudine de Castries. Once inside, she'd use the security codes we'd pilfered from Corbelote's mind to remove the documents he had stored and be on our way, with Natira none the wiser. If things turned to dren…..Well, we'd just have to see what we'd need to do.

Before I knew it, we were landing on Droon. The authorities hadn't liked allowing two heavily armed warships to orbit their planet, but apparently word that we were to see Natira quieted their fears.

I got a good look at our destination as we walked from the nearby landing ground. Apparently Natira was important enough for the planetary government to allow transports to land next to the depository. Kathleen walked to my right and six human troopers from the Special Operations Recon Team, all of whom I recognized, followed behind us. Kathleen decided that our escort should be troops used to using guile rather than brute force.

That said, I could have wished for a little more brute force. We all carried 1mm powergun pistols and instead of armor, the troops wore a khaki shirt, something called a Glengarry bonnet and an oddly patterned lower garment that I would have called a skirt had I not been told to never call it anything but a kilt.

The shadow depository was even larger than the one that John and I had raided so long ago. And, it was all turrets, gun slits and sensors inside what appeared to be cubic metras of concrete and steel. Natira must have felt unsafe after my last visit.

We were welcomed at the door by an attractive young Sebacean lady. She said she would take us to see Natira at once.

"I presume you'll want our sidearms?" Kathleen said.

The woman shook her head. "Not necessary. A warband of Luxans or a regiment of Imperial Charrids couldn't get in here and out again alive. Our defenses are impenetrable. Many of our customers hate to be disarmed, so we indulge them."

Well, overconfident enemies were the best kind.

On the other hand, there were well armed guards aplenty in the depository. If you knew what to look for, you could see well disguised gunports covering the interior of the depository. I also saw some markings on the floor showing that something heavy had been dragged over it. A vehicle or a mobile gun?

Natira herself was waiting for us in a large open space in the center of the depository. Around a fountain were comfortable looking chairs and couches. Nearby hovered servitors with trays of food and drink.

Natira had changed some since I had seen her last. She appeared to be skinnier, although with beings with exoskeletons it was often hard to tell. The main difference was her eyes. She now had prosthetic implants; dull grey orbs set in her blue-grey face.

"You are from Lord Corbellote?" She asked.

Kathleen nodded. "Our authorization." She replied, holding out a data cube to Natira.

"You will excuse me, but I have to hold the data cube close to my eyes to read it. My eyes are not what they once were." She said examining the cube from very close range. Her vision must have been very poor indeed.

"Your name is?" Natira asked Kathleen.

"Dalat Asmaly." Kathleen replied sharply.

"You say that as if I should know your name."

Kathleen snorted. "I hope not. I just made it up when you asked me. I'd hate to think I was using the name of someone famous."

Natira examined the cube for a while longer. "This is most irregular."

Kathleen made no reply.

"This is most irregular." Natira repeated. "Don't you think so?"

Kathleen shook her head. "I have no experience with shadow depositories. If you say this is irregular, I'll take your word for it. Does this irregularity in some way affect my mission?"

Natira appeared to be a bit hesitant. "It's just that Lord Corbellote has always come to the depository himself. He's never used a representative."

Kathleen nodded. "But he did make arrangements for the use of an agent. Hence the security codes I presented to you to establish that I am his representative."

Natira nodded slowly. "There is more. A ship arrived yesterday from a nearby pleasure planet. It was raided by unknown forces. All of the compounds on the planet were attacked and the inhabitants slaughtered. Many of Lord Corbellote's servants and family were brutally executed. However, his body was not found."

Kathleen nodded. "If he has powerful enemies, then he may have very good reason to be elsewhere. Gathering his own forces and such."

"He made no mention of this raid to you?"

Kathleen shook her head. "I have never met Lord Corbellote. If he said something to my superiors, they did not feel it was necessary to pass it on to me."

"Odd." Natira muttered.

"Not at all." Kathleen said sharply. "It is not our practice to ask for any more information of our clients than is needed for our mission. Nor do many of our clients wish to impart more information."

"But you did not know of this raid?" Natira continued.

"We do not provide anyone with more information than is necessary for our mission." Kathleen snapped back.

Natira looked rather surprised at Kathleen's outburst. Kathleen stayed on the offensive.

"If you do not intend to allow us access to Lord Corbellote's vault, tell us now and we'll be on our way. We cannot be blamed for this and our contract will remain in force. We will leave the matter to you and Lord Corbellotte."

Natira shook her head. "No, no. That was not my meaning. It's just that…"

"This is irregular. You've said that." Kathleen finished for her.

Natira glanced around her and then shrugged. "Please follow me."

She led us up a very wide ramp. At the top was a flat space that could easily have accommodated any of the vaults I had seen in her old depository.

Suddenly, the air shimmered around us and a large vault appeared in front of us.

"This is the vault." Natira said, nodding toward the vault.

Kathleen walked over and knelt by the vault. In front of her was a small keypad. She made sure her body was between the keypad and everyone else as she typed in a code. The door opened.

"Now you can go in." Natira said.

"Not likely." Kathleen replied. She took out a small device from her pocket and waved in gently in front of the open vault door.

"Now I can go in." Kathleen said.

All the way in the back of the vault was a box. No more than a motra on each side. Kathleen knelt over it and did something none of us could see. Then she stood.

"All done." She said over her shoulder. "Mr. MacNeill, I think Wee Wully can handle this by himself."

Wee Wully strode into the vault, lifted the box and tucked it neatly under one arm.

"If you are done, we need to return to my office to complete the necessary documentation." Natira said.

Kathleen nodded and we all followed Natira into a large, expensively furnished office in the center of the shadow depository.

All together it was a neatly done ambush. Kathleen leaned over Natira's desk to sign the documents. In an instant Natira had a gun at Kathleen's throat and the Sebacean woman had her pistol at my head.

"Now," Natira said coldly, "take your loot and leave alive. But leave Aeryn Sun to me." 


	10. Chapter 10

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Ten  
By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language. Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

"I have no idea what you think…"Kathleen began.

Natira cut her off by ramming the muzzle of her pistol into her throat. "I lost my eyes because of this traitorous Peacekeeper bitch. It was my punishment. My beautiful, beautiful eyes. Gone forever. My race can't have regenerative surgery to grow new eyes, so I'm left with these accursed, worthless artificial eyes."

"I can understand your bitterness. But it's affected your mind. This is one of my officers."

Natira laughed coldly. "I've been looking for Sun for decades now. I managed to buy things she had handled or worn to get her DNA. I have very sensitive and very precise equipment here to check the DNA of everyone who comes here. That's Aeryn Sun and she's mine."

Kathleen glared at Natira. Natira continued.

"If you want to go for your guns, please do so. Life without my eyes is such a burden I'd gladly die as long as I know Aeryn died with me."

"Oh, mah Goad." Howled McAuslan. "We're all deid!" He started crying and at the same time he lost control of his bladder. Urine poured from under his kilt onto the carpet.

"You fool," Natira shrieked, "that's an irreplaceable antique Dirras carpet, worth more..."

Kathleen slapped Natira's gun out of the way and I heard a slight pop. I was busy getting my head out of the way of the Sebacean's gun. Luckily for me, when someone throws a large metal box at you, your natural instinct is to put your hand up to block it, even if it is your gun hand. She did. It did her no good. The box hit her square in the face with all the strength Wee Wullie could put into it and slammed her backwards. I heard a distinct crack as she hit the wall. She collapsed in a heap, quite dead.

I glanced over to Natira. She was sitting quietly behind her desk, looking quite happy.

"What the frell happened?" I asked.

Kathleen held up her right index finger. "False fingernail. It has a few drops of the happy juice we use for interrogations under pressure. Natira will be very happy for a few minutes." Even as Kathleen was speaking, Corporal Grant, the medic that had treated me was working on Natira.

"Lady Natira?" Called a voice from outside the office. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Kathleen replied sweetly. "We're just having some fun. Natira's fine."

They didn't believe that. "Our sensors show a dead Sebacean in there. Release Lady Natira and come out unarmed and with your hands in the air."

"Grant?" Kathleen asked.

Grant had attached one of the human interrogation devices to Natira. "Okay, Ma'am. I'm going to see what we can get out of her about the defenses here."

A flurry of pulse weapons fire hit the door frame. Since that was the only apparent exit, we were in trouble.

"We could use a little help, Grant."

Grant nodded and got to work on both Natira and Natira's work station. "Just a minute, Ma'am." She muttered while her hands flew back and forth between the interrogator device and the Natira's computer control.

A pulse blast ripped through the ceiling, missing Kathleen by denches.

"A little help now?" Kathleen growled as she threw herself aside and another pulse blast shot through the wall just over her head.

"Got something!" Grant yelled. "There are surveillance pickups behind that picture on the wall by the door and in that vase thing behind the desk."

The human troops made short work of those.

"Okay!" grant yelled. "Now they can't monitor the inside of the office. They won't shoot for fear of hitting their boss."

"Ah hope." Muttered someone.

Grant got to work. She gave Natira another shot of the "happy juice" the humans used and Natira's smile grew to epic proportions as Grant interrogated her.

"I've got all of the security codes from Natira, Ma'am. I'm into the controls for her whole security system." Grant stopped talking for a few microns only favoring us with some "hmms" or "ahhs". Finally she gave us a smile. "Okay, this is going to be rough. I'm putting all of the internal weapons stations on computer control and ordering them to shoot up everything but us. Hang on."

No sooner had she said that than a roar of heavy weapons fire shook the building. Small parts of the ceiling were shaken loose and floated down on us. Through the door I could see larger chunks of the inside of the building flying by along with what appeared to be pieces of some guards. Quickly, smoke started to fill the depository.

"One more thing!" Grant screamed over the roar of the firing and the sound of collapsing walls.

"Attention! Attention!" blared a computer voice, almost drowning out the roar of battle. "There is a failure in the fusion containment bottle. Repeat! There is a failure in the fusion containment bottle. Fusion bottle breach will occur in one hundred and twenty five microns. Repeat! There is a failure…"

Another even louder voice filled the air. "Biological and chemical weapons alert. All personnel are to don protective gear at once. A level seven alert is in effect."

As the two voices warred with each other, more voices filled the air warning of volcanic eruptions, floods, attacks from space, epidemics, a mutiny by the planetary space navy and a whole host of apparently fatal problems.

"Get ready for our escort out!" Grant managed to make herself heard over the colossal din.

In a microt, something large and dark filled the doorway.

Kathleen had us all gather by the doorway. "Do we need Natira?" She asked Corporal Grant.

Grant nodded. "We'd best keep her, Ma'am. Just in case." As she moved away from the computer, I saw Grant had removed the remote control.

Kathleen nodded to Lieutenant MacNeill. "Dand, have someone help Grant with Natira. Do you have your nanobots out?"

The lieutenant nodded. "All hell is breaking loose out there, Ma'am, but I don't think anyone's still out there waiting for us to come out. That tank, or whatever it is, out in the hall just has to roll to the end of the hallway and blast through the door and we're outside."

"Any word from our transport?"

One of the soldiers shook her head. "They said they were taking fire and then I lost them. Comms are being jammed for sure, so I don't know where they are."

"Well, we won't get anywhere standing here." Kathleen said and stepped out in the hall.

Although there was an enormous amount of weapons fire in the depository, none of it seemed to be aimed at us. Apparently the computer controlled weapons were still programmed to shoot at anything but us. In the hallway was a huge armored machine on rollers. Pulse weapons in the front and back of it were firing continuously, but apparently not at any target.

The armored vehicle rolled down the hallway, spitting fire until it got to the door. It stopped shooting for a microt and then let loose a tremendous blast. The frelling door sagged a little but remained closed.

"Nanobots indicate someone's coming up behind us!" MacNeill yelled.

The vehicle fired again, if anything an even heavier blast. The door sagged some more and then part of it fell to the ground.

"I'm going to have it back up and ram the door!" Grant yelled. "Stand back."

The vehicle rammed the door once. Twice. Three times. A burst of fire zipped past us from behind. Three of the troops and I returned fire.

We heard a mighty crash and felt cool air. The door was open. The armored vehicle lumbered out of the depository and into an open park-like area behind where we had landed.

"Shit! The transport was hit badly. They managed to get out of the city, but then crashed. Two wounded, one dead. We've got a stealthed transport inbound. Be here in ten minutes." Shouted the soldier with the comm gear.

"Shit, indeed." Kathleen muttered as the now stationary armored vehicle started taking heavy fire. "We've got hostiles in front of us and in back of us now. Grant? Any ideas?"

Grant was holding Natira up with one arm, holding the interrogator onto Natira's head. With the other she worked the computer remote control.

"Through the doorway to the left and down!" Grant yelled.

We went. The doorway led to a ramp going down. In twenty motras we found ourselves in an underground vehicle park with half a dozen vehicles in it.

"The green one looks the fastest." Someone yelled.

"Too small!" Kathleen yelled. "We'd never get everyone inside."

Grant worked the remote and a large vehicle rose a few denches off the floor on its grav bladders.

"Everyone inside" Kathleen yelled as pulse blasts started to strike the concrete ramp we had just been on.

"Can you drive this, Aeryn?"

I slid into the center seat and looked quickly at the controls. Standard two stick controls, accelerator on the top of the left stick, decelerator on the top of the right stick. The monitors in front of the sticks were standard.

"Yes!"

"Go down!" Grant yelled to me. "There's an exit down there."

As we left, the troops fired out of the windows at the other vehicles, assuring that any pursuit would be on foot.

I headed down the connecting ramps as fast as I could, damaging the bodywork on our vehicle and on parked vehicles.

I had counted fifteen levels we had dropped when the next ramp ended in a blank wall.

"Hold on." Grant said, working busily. "It'll open."

She kept working, but nothing was happening.

"Ah kin hear summat behind us." Someone said.

"Damn! You're clever, aren't you Natira?" Grant said with a smile. "We need to give the damned wall a sample of her DNA before it'll open. Open the frigging door and hold her hand against the dark square by the side."

Wee Wullie opened the door and held Natira out and slammed her hand against the dark square. The wall slid smoothly to one side and I rushed through into a tunnel.

Natira wasn't quite back in the vehicle when I drove through and the door snapped half shut on her. I heard a loud crack.

"Her exoskeleton's damaged." Grant said.

I looked back. Natira's happy smile was starting to fade.

"Dren!" I shouted. "There aren't any lights in this frelling tunnel!" I felt us hit the sides of the tunnel, but nothing apparently major was damaged. More by good luck than anything, I got the night vision working on the windscreen.

The tunnel appeared to go fairly straight so I risked a glance back to Natira. A bandage of some kind was over her cracked exoskeleton and her drug induced smile was back.

"Light ahead." Kathleen said, bringing my attention back to my driving.

I slowed down and looked ahead of us. "Looks like the exit." I said. "I don't see anything barring our way."

Kathleen nodded. "Best to be sure. Stop about ten metras from the exit. Hepburn, take a look."

I slowed to a stop and one of the soldiers hopped out and checked the exit. After a few microns he came jogging back.

"It comes out in some sort of a huge concrete lined drainage ditch. The thing's about three quarters of a klick wide, and I don't know how long. I can see more of the city on the other side, but I can't see what's on our side. The concrete banks are really gentle though. No problem getting down or getting back up the other side."

Kathleen cranked her head around to the comm trooper in the back. "Andrews, have we been able to contact anyone."

Andrews shook her head. "Not while we're under all this concrete and metal, Ma'am. Can we pull out just a bit?"

We could and did. In microns Andrews contacted our incoming lander. A quick check of the map and we decided to have them pick us up at a large park not more than a few motras away.

I eased the car down the concrete bank and we were soon on the other side. Between us and a surface street was a short, wire fence.

"Fence doesn't appear to be alarmed." Commented Lieutenant MacNeill. "I think it's just here to keep out stray dogs."

"Aeryn?" Kathleen asked.

I looked carefully at the fence. "I think we should go through it."

Kathleen nodded and I backed up a bit. The first time I hit the fence, we didn't go through, although we did damage the fence. I backed up further and we punched through the fence on the second try.

In a few microns we were at a broad avenue that seemed to lead straight to the park we were meeting the lander at. I swung onto the avenue and almost hit another vehicle.

"What the frell are they doing?" I said, silently cursing the driver ahead of me.

"Christ! Look at those vehicles!" Grant said.

The cars on the street were minor works of art in their own rights. Some were painted with murals that seemed to feature the drivers. Others looked like they had been painted by just throwing the brightest paints imaginable on them. All were going at only a few motras an arn and seemed to stop every few denches so the occupants could get out and talk to each other. A group to the left had decided to hold an impromptu dance on the street.

"Dammit! We'll be here all night at this rate." Kathleen growled.

"And we're attracting attention." MacNeill noted.

He was right. Our vehicle had once been an expensive runabout for Natira. Now, after being chased through an underground garage, through an unlit tunnel and then a fence, we looked as out of place as a drannit in a Delvian monastery.

"Trouble at six o'clock."

Just in time I remembered that was a human method of expressing direction. Sure enough, coming up behind us were a uniformed pair. Both carried sidearms. One carried what looked like a communicator, the other a wide muzzled shoulder weapon of some sort.

"Can we get out of here?" Kathleen asked.

I swung left, pushed the accelerator down and passed a stopped car ahead of us. He had his door open and there was no way for me to avoid it. Too frelling bad.

There was a scream of outrage from the driver whose car I had damaged and an amplified bellow from the peace enforcers.

"Damaged vehicle. Stop now. You are in violation of…."

I didn't bother to listen to the rest. I cut to the right and went up on the sidewalk. There was a nice outdoor café just to my right, bordered with some flowering plants. I managed to miss the customers, but I sent flowers all over.

Frell! Some stupid frellnik was standing on the sidewalk in front of me, screaming her fool head off and not moving a dench. I tried to miss her and heard metal tearing as I jammed our vehicle against those to our left. At the last possible microt, someone pulled her out of the way and I missed her by half a dench.

Ahead I saw that two idiots had tried to move their vehicles out of our way and had managed to hit each other, blocking the street completely. A pulse blast shot past my head, spraying molten metal into the car.

I swung to the left and headed for a shop window. We slammed through it and into a shopping mall. Luckily, it featured a large open space with the shops along the walls. The crowds in front of me parted as I gunned the engine. The mall covered at least two city blocks and I had reached a good speed when I suddenly saw we weren't going be to drive out as easily as we'd driven in. Ahead of us was a solid wall. I hit the decelerator and swung to the left. No luck. There was another wall ahead of us. I looked back the way we had come and saw a dozen or more peace enforcers. As I hit the accelerator, and turned hard, a burst of weapons fire cut through where we had just been.

"There!" I yelled. "There's a door up ahead."

"It's too small." Kathleen yelled.

"Probably." I shouted back. "But it's our only way out."

I pushed down on the accelerator as hard as I could and the car shot forward, scattering customers and merchandise in all directions. I aimed straight at the door. Frell! It was small!

Kathleen was right. The door was too small. We left a lot of body work behind and part of a grav bladder. But we got through!

We came out on a wide and almost deserted boulevard. To our left I could just see the trees that marked the park where we were to be picked up. I gunned the engine and we lurched slowly towards the park.

"The frelling engine's damaged as well as the grav bladder!" I pushed the accelerator all the way down, and headed for the park, shedding parts from the grav bladder that hung down under the car.

I cut across a large square and stopped at the edge of the park. The park was bordered by a low, thick hedge. Normally, we would have driven right through it, but with all of the damage we had taken I didn't want to try.

Kathleen pulled out her map again. "Aeryn, the map shows an entrance just to the south of here. We should be able to get in.

"Lander's five miles out and have us on their sensors." Andrews announced. "They're asking if we can head for a large lake at our end of the park.

In half a micron I was able to answer.

"There's a break in the hedge. Tell them we'll be there before they are."

The park entrance was for foot traffic only and some officious idiot yelled at us as we drove into the park. McAuslan made a human gesture in response that translated well with anthropoids.

"There!" Someone shouted. "Something's pushing that tree against the wind!"

I stopped ten metras from the tree and a hatchway opened in the stealthed lander.

As we piled out of the vehicle, Kathleen drew her pistol and pointed it at Natira who was still smiling idiotically.

"No one threatens one of my officers, or one of my friends." She leaned slightly forward, put the muzzle of her pistol against Natira's forehead and fired.

"McAuslan!" She barked. "Drop a thermal next to her and light it up."

As I entered the lander, there was a very brief but intense flash of light. Then we were off.

The flight back to the _Agincourt_ was anticlimactic. The authorities on Droon had no desire to take on two heavily armed warships.

As soon as we were back on _Agincourt_ , Kathleen started feeding the intelligence we'd stolen from Natira's shadow depository into the ship's computers. In a few arns it was spewing out reams of data concerning myself and John. I grabbed a desk and a workstation and began plowing through the data. I read for almost a complete solar day, cross checking references, going back to check information I'd previously seen, and accessing the ship's own database for more information. To make sure I didn't miss anything, Kathleen worked at a station beside me, often exchanging information or ideas with me.

At the end of twenty four arns I was exhausted and depressed.

"Frell!"I moaned. "I still have no idea where John is or what happened to him. I have all the data I need to know who to kill when this is all over, but where's my husband?"

Kathleen leaned back and rubbed her eyes. "Where ever he is, the odds are he's alive. The last messages Corbellote sent were for his thugs to find and kill John."

I snorted. "And none of those bastards knows that their boss is a prisoner and will never to be in a position to pay them for John's murder."

Before the conversation went ant further, there was a soft chime from Kathleen's work station.

"Aha!" She said with a smile. "Vice Marshall O'Donnell, also known as my mom, wants to see us ASAP."

We shut down the work stations and walked down a passageway to Aida's headquarters. One of her aides met us at the door and ushered us into her private office.

"Please sit, Aeryn, Colonel O'Donnell. " Aida said solemnly. There was one item on her desk, a blood red folder.

Aida gestured to the folder. "We're done with Goro and Corbellote. It took a little while longer than we'd thought, but they're of no further use to us. Do you two know of any reason we should keep them alive?"

Kathleen replied first. "From an intelligence point of view, we have no use for them."

I thought for a while. I had been around John for a lot. When we first met, I would have executed the two bastards at once. Now I was considering their fates.

"We might be in a position to trade them for John sometime in the future." Aida said.

I shook my head. "Now that the news of the raid on that slave planet is common knowledge, their enemies and subordinates will be too busy trying to grab off pieces of their operations to care about Goro and Corbellote." I inhaled and let a breath out slowly. "Execute them."

Aida nodded, opened the folder and signed the document inside. "Do you want to attend the execution, Aeryn?"

I shook my head." Just make sure they're dead."

"Next item." Aida continued. "We've parted company with _Scipio Africanus_. We're going to rejoin the task force and return to our base at Arsenal."

I shook my head vigorously. "Arsenal is dozens of light cycles from anywhere John might be. Give me one of Redd's Prowlers and leave me behind so I can hunt for John."

"Hunt where?" She shot back. "You have no idea where to look for him. He could be on any one of a thousand planets in a space of thousands of cubic light years. Your chances of being any use to John are just about nil."

Frell! She was right, but I hated that she was right.

"Aeryn, we can send all of the intel we got from the shadow depository that concerns you and John to Dominar Rygel. We can also send him some information we got concerning the loyalty, or lack of same, of some of his subordinates. As you said before, Rygel has lots of resources. He can track down the people who helped Corbellote capture you all at once and go after all of the people who may still be hunting John. You can only go after them one at a time."

I stared at her, trying to find some flaw in her argument that wouldn't mean I'd be heading away from John to the human's base.

"I frelling hate this." I finally grumped.

"I know you do." Aida said sympathetically. "But all of our intelligence goes straight back to Arsenal. If our intelligence service picks up anything about John, the news will get to Arsenal long before it'll get to us in the task force out in the middle of the Uncharted Territories. Or to you."

She rose from behind her desk and gave me a smile. "Now, we need to record another message to Dominar Rygel as well as one to your children."

Aida led me to her outer office and handed Kathleen and I over to an aide to make the message to Rygel.

"Have you thought about my proposal, Vice Marshall?" Kathleen suddenly said.

Aida nodded. "I don't like telling the ruler of one of the more important powers any more about us than we can avoid, but I think you're right. We can open up indirect communications with Dominar Rygel. He knows Aeryn has some sort of friends out here that are powerful enough to keep her safe. Word of the raid on the slave planet and on the shadow depository will spread soon enough. Dominar Rygel will certainly connect the two, and connect them to Aeryn's new friends. We may as well contact him first and be done with it. Both our jobs in finding John will be a lot easier if we can contact each other."

And so, a message was sent to Rygel and my children.

In the following weekens, the task force headed deeper and deeper into the Uncharted Territories, taking me with it. We were far deeper into the Uncharted Territories than any prior explorers had bothered going, headed to a previously uninhabited solar system, now the home of a powerful human military force.

"Holy shit!" Said an officer in the other end of the Combat Information Center, looking at the holo of the Arsenal system that filled a quarter of the CIC.

Admiral Nagumo had rejoined the _Agincourt_ when we rejoined the task force. She glared at the officers in the CIC to try to find which one had spoken.

"Holy shit, indeed." Aida said. "We have visitors." 


	11. Chapter 11

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Eleven  
By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language. Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

Arsenal appeared to be a standard planet habitable by anthropoids. Roughly three parts ocean to one part land, standard atmosphere and gravity with one large moon. Closer inspection showed a further even dozen small, rocky moons. Their orbits were so precise that I had to assume they were asteroids moved to orbit the planet as part of its defenses.

Also in orbit were many hundreds of starships. Those in the highest orbits were clearly warships with auxiliaries and merchant ships below them.

Further out from the planet, in no order that I could see were further groups of ships that must total at least a thousand.

Kathleen leaned over to whisper in my ear. "Our ships are in orbit around Arsenal. And the good news is that Admiral Cunningham is here with the rest of our warships. The other ships scattered around the solar system belong to other mercenary units. The fact that they're keeping their distance means they haven't decided to join us, much less trust us."

"Is there going to be a battle?"

Kathleen shook her head. "Most of the other's ships are not warships. We have more and more powerful warships than any one of our visitors, although if they all ganged up on us we'd be in trouble. But, speaking as an intelligence officer, a good fraction of those groups will join us. The majority, however, will head out and see what kind of a nuisance they can make of themselves."

We were interrupted. "Vice-Marshall? The Marshall is on the horn. He wants to talk to you."

Aida stood and nodded to the officer. "I'll take it in my office. Kathleen, Rudy, Aeryn, please join me."

A full sized holo of Marshall O'Donnell was being projected by the time we got to Aida's office.

"Good to see you, Aida." He said.

When I'd last seen O'Donnell over twenty cycles ago, he'd been a tall and rather skinny human with red hair and blue eyes. He had filled out since then and very little of it looked like fat. His hair had just a few strands of grey in it and he was smiling with his eyes and his mouth. He wasn't wearing the green and tan uniform I was used to, but a dark blue dress uniform trimmed in red. Across his chest was a multicolored sash.

Aida returned his smile. "I've missed you, Eddie." She waited a micron and then got down to business. "Who are our new neighbors and when did they get here? And why all at once?"

"Oh, the usual suspects are here. They've been here for about four days now. The Good and the Great over on the other side got tired of a whole horde of mercenaries hanging around K'hiff, trying to decide whether to leave their home universe for this one. Everybody was told to either go through the Anomaly or be disbanded. By force if need be."

"And they did?"

O'Donnell nodded. "Most did. Some didn't. The ones who stayed aren't anyone we'll miss. The ones who didn't stop here are the problems."

"They are?" Aida asked.

O'Donnell reeled off a list of names of ships and units that meant nothing to me.

Kathleen whispered in my ear again. "Real bottom feeders, Aeryn. Pirates and raiders, one and all. When they come to the attention of the powers that be over here, they are going to give everybody a very bad idea of what humans are like. All the more reason for us to introduce ourselves politely to everyone else here."

"So what's happening now?" That was Aida.

"Ah!" Replied Eddie. "We've been running a three day dog and pony show to try to show everyone why they should join Human Forces Command. Tonight we're having a little party to let everyone digest what they've seen, talk to other unit commanders, and hopefully join us."

"Do you need a date for this party, soldier?" Aida said in a husky voice.

"Do I ever. Get into your dress blues, my love, and come to my party. Rudy needs to be here, of course, as well as Kath. And bring Aeryn along."

The holo faded and my three friends went off to change. I was still officially Lt. Col. Claudine de Castries, but there was no time to find me a dress uniform. No problem. I wasn't a party person, at least without John.

In an arn we landed at a large military spaceport. Waiting for us were a dozen or so armored vehicles from O'Donnell's Guard Regiment.

"Expecting trouble?" I asked Rudy, who was nearest to me.

"No." He replied. "But, if you're always expecting trouble, you're never surprised."

Over the objections of the escort commander, Aida took command of one of the tanks and placed me next to her in the gunner's seat.

"Relax, Captain." She had said. "I we get ambushed and wiped out on our own damned planet, I won't blame you. But we've been on a ship for about forever and I want some fresh air."

Aida popped the hatches on the vehicle and we sat with our heads sticking out in the afternoon air. We rose on cushions of air and headed down a highway. Aida commented on what we passed, more for herself than for me, I thought.

We passed a column of armored vehicles heading the other way. "Yorkists! Well, some one joined us. The White Rose Division." She said, nodding vaguely to me. "Some division, with just five over strength battalions, but good soldiers."

The second column was open blower trucks crammed with shabbily dressed men and women, clutching an assortment of hand tools. "One of our Pioneer units. Christ! They look like they're half starved. They'd better have just got here or someone's ass is going to get chewed."

As if in response, one of the women suddenly shouted, "The Vice-Marshall, God bless her!" The truck column erupted in cheers and waves.

A voice spoke in our headphones. "Political prisoners from Sibir, Ma'am. The bastards have been sending them here by the shipload. Arsenal is one hell of a lot better than where they were."

After the trucks passed, the road ran through a huge field of something called wheat. Massive automated reapers were starting to cut it.

After that we reached a military cantonment. This was more like it. It brought back the days of my youth. Row upon row of drab, rectangular and utilitarian buildings. Long lines of vehicles were interspersed with bodies of marching troops.

Aida pointed out our destination. It was decidedly not drab or utilitarian. It was a massive shining marble building that dominated the hilltop it sat on. When I could see some people for perspective, I decided it was at least a metra to a side and perhaps six or eight stories high.

"Rudy's pride and joy." Aida said with a smile. "Our real headquarters is buried under a mountain."

We pulled into an underground garage to be greeted by a host of uniformed flunkies who seemed to work for Rudy. They vacuumed dust from our uniforms, buffed our shoes and probably would have insisted on giving us a bath if Aida hadn't stopped them.

"Enough! You people do not ever want to stand between a Sebacean warrior and her man!" She growled.

We walked past two armed and armored troopers and into an elevator. At the top Edward Burke O'Donnell was waiting for us.

He took two quick steps forward, put his arms around Aida and lifted her off the ground while kissing her. After twenty or so microns he put her down.

"Dammit all, lady, but it's good to have you back." He muttered into her hair.

"Good to be back. And good to know I'm missed."

"Now don't tell me you didn't know that." He teased.

His eyes lit on Kathleen and he gave her a hug and a brief kiss. "The family's all here, now."

Still with an arm around Aida, he shook Rudy's hand. "Good to have you back, old friend. You've been busy I see."

Rudy nodded. "I'll be busy tonight from the look of things."

Eddie took another step forward, put both hands on his hips and looked me up and down. "Aeryn Sun. Now Aeryn Sun Crichton, I believe. God you haven't aged a day."

"Perhaps a day." I said with a smile. "These last couple of monens have aged me, I'm afraid.

Eddie laughed. "Don't worry, Aeryn. We'll have you back with John in no time. I owe my family to you two, you know."

Rudy cleared his throat. "She's Lt. Col. Claudine de Castries for now. We shouldn't allow her to get out of character. And what's the party all about?"

Eddie led us to the edge of the balcony we were on. Below us was an enormous room. It took up fully a third of the building we were in. The walls and ceiling were open to the outside and I could see the sun getting lower in the sky. Scattered around the floor were tables where food and drink were available. Each table seemed to have a group clustered around it, with people occasionally moving from one group to another. At one end of the room, a uniformed band played softly.

Eddie explained. "The commanders of the various units that are in orbit around Arsenal are here with their staffs. Everyone wants to make the best deal they can with me. Well, some of them feel that way. Most of them won't be staying here, though. I'm trying to get a few of the better units to stick with me."

Rudy nodded. "I think I see where I can be of use to you. If you'll excuse me?"

Without waiting for a reply, Rudy Walked down a flight of steps and onto the polished wooden floor and straight to one of the groups.

"Shall we, my dear?" Eddie said, offering his arm to Aida.

I followed Eddie, Aida and Kathleen down the stairs and stopped behind them. All eyes had turned to the two of them.

"I say, old boy! You haven't become a Muslim have you?" Drawled a voice from behind us.

The speaker was a tall, well built man. He had high cheekbones, hazel eyes and a well trimmed mustache. If he was little out of the ordinary, his uniform was not. He wore a peach colored double breasted coat that ended slightly above the knees. Below that were tight white pants tucked into gleaming knee high boots. Across his chest was a jewel encrusted sash. His shoulder boards were also bejeweled. If human mercenaries disdained medals, this one hadn't heard of it. His chest was covered with medals, most of which seemed to be made of precious metals and also jeweled. A long length of cloth, which I learned was called a turban, was wrapped around his head. It was held in place by a clasp holding a blood red jewel that probably could have been traded for a fairly rich planet.

His officers, arrayed behind him, were dressed in all of the colors of the rainbow and had only slightly less in the way of jewels present.

"Not a bit, Ranjit. Why do you ask?" Eddie replied quietly.

Ranjit smiled. "You seem to have acquired another beautiful Sebacean wife."

"Ah!" Eddie said with a smile. "This is Lt. Col. Claudine de Castries, an officer of my Guards."

Ranjit looked skeptical for just a microt, then the smile returned. "My apologies, Colonel de Castries. I have erred."

"Claudine," Aida interrupted, "may I introduce Lieutenant General Ranjit Singh. Ranjit, this is Claudine de Castries."

Ranjit bowed slightly and winked at me. "Delighted, Claudine."

I managed a reply. I did not like being flirted with.

"So what are you doing here, Ranjit?" Aida, seeing my displeasure changed the subject.

"I've come to offer my services, of course."

Eddie raised an eyebrow. "You don't have any "technical problems" that need to be worked out? No qualifications or loose ends. Not even a non-negotiable demand?"

Ranjit shook his head and waved airily at the assembled mercenaries. "The fools here think that because we have some slight technological advantages in this new universe, we'll all become the absolute monarchs of a planet or two. Bloody hell, the Hynerian Empire alone has over six hundred billion subjects. Can't the fools see how weak we are in comparison? We have to stick together or we'll be chewed up?"

"How many do you think realize this?" Eddie asked quietly.

"Too bloody few." Was the reply.

Eddie smiled. "So what do you bring us?"

Ranjit returned the smile. "Three standard armored divisions. Of course, being Sikhs we have a truly magnificent artillery group. Oh, and I've convinced Colonel Brusilov to come along with me."

A tall, round faced officer stepped forward and gave Eddy a slight bow.

"He has a lovely heavy tank regiment, you know. Over one hundred and eighty Skoda model 1019s. Plus we have engineer tanks, recovery vehicles, command and control tracks and even a company's worth of infantry carriers all based on the Skoda chassis."

Ranjit lowered his voice and his face became serious. "Speaking of infantry, old boy, you can never have enough, you know. I came across a prison planet on my way to K'hiff, don't you know. POWs, political prisoners, and common criminals all mixed together. Enough stayed with me so that I can recruit an additional armored infantry battalion for each of my divisions, and probably a couple of light infantry regiments. But I need equipment, you see."

Eddie nodded and exchanged a look with Aida. Then he nodded. "No problem. We can provide that easily enough. One thing, though."

Ranjit nodded. "I know, I know. The ships. You need to take mine away from me."

Aida reached out and put her hand on his arm. "We'll confirm all of your officers in their ranks, but we need our fleet to be unified. We can't divide it up in penny packets and scatter it around."

"I understand." Ranjit said, his smile coming back. "It's just that the old _Sutlej_ has been my home for years."

"You have a new home, my friend." Eddie said.

Ranjit brightened. "Well, Rudy said he had some shrimp curry set aside for us, so I'll be off." With that he bowed deeply to Eddie and said, loudly enough to be heard all over the room, "Hail to you, my lord."

As I'm sure General Singh intended, the conversation in the room stopped at once and everyone stared at Eddie. Then the conversation resumed, louder than before, and officers started to move between groups like some sort of dance.

"I see Rudy has some one for us to see." Aida whispered.

Rudy was indeed leading a group of uniformed humans towards us. If General Singh and his officers were as gaudy as a male drannit in heat, this group was the opposite. They wore rough, drab brown uniforms with no insignia of any sort that I could see. Their hair was oddly cut, being shaved on top of the skull and long otherwise. Bushy beards covered their faces.

Their leader nodded to Eddie. "Good evening to you, Marshall O'Donnell, and to your family."

"And good evening to you, Brother Saul. Are you prepared to join us?" Eddie asked.

Brother Saul shook his head. "I, and the other Disciples, have prayed mightily over your offer, but we find we cannot accept it, in spite of Brother Rudy's passionate arguments. We are armed prophets whose mission is to spread the word of Our Lord throughout the Universe. We cannot subordinate ourselves to mere considerations of the flesh."

Eddie nodded glumly. "I see."

Well, having met human religious leaders myself, I wasn't the least unhappy that this group would be going their own way.

Rudy broke in with a large smile on his face. "While Brother Saul is not joining us, I believe we can be of assistance to him, as we discussed, Marshall O'Donnell."

"How can you aid us if we do not join you, Marshall?" asked Brother Saul.

"Brother Rudy has pointed out that we have a great deal of excess weaponry and equipment. As you know, the great powers opened their arsenals to us to induce us to leave. Now, all of our medium tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, self propelled artillery and such are from Henschel of Terra. Our other vehicles and light weaponry are by Fabrique Nationale of Friesland. Many of our units were equipped with other combat equipment before joining us. The use of the same weaponry simplifies our logistics to no end. But this other equipment now sits in our warehouses taking up space we could use for other purposes."

"I don't see how we could possibly afford…" Brother Saul began.

Rudy cut him off. "Even if we don't share all of your religious convictions, we have much the same goals. To find a home for ourselves in this new universe. A peaceful home, if we can make one."

"You told me you're headed for a Delvian colony, the Garden of Galil, currently being raided by renegade Charrids to offer your services. Nothing could please the Marshall more than for you to succeed in driving off these Charrids. But, while your veteran regiments have adequate, if rather light, armaments, and your recently recruited regiments are woefully equipped."

Brother Saul looked like he was going to say something, but Rudy kept right on talking. "We have a considerable holding of Tatra vehicles; tanks, carriers, artillery, and so on. They use artificial sapphire matrix armor, which is far more difficult to repair than the iridium armor our new vehicles use. Their weapons are based on high energy lasers rather than power guns. And, in spite of all of Tatra's propaganda, their artificial intelligences are nearly impossible to network with any other AIs."

"I believe we can release the following vehicles to you." Rudy said, handing Brother Saul a data flimsy.

Brother Saul's eyes bulged out when he read the list. Then he straightened up and stared hard at Rudy and Eddie. "What do you expect in return for this?"

"Just that you sign a standard Friendship Treaty with us." Rudy replied. "We'll agree to exchange liaison officers, who will rank as and be treated as ambassadors, exchange intelligence about common foes, and such. I gave you a copy of the treaty, I believe?"

"That's all?" Brother Saul said suspiciously.

Eddie nodded vigorously. "Your success will be good for us. Any Charrids you destroy will be ones we won't have to worry about. And, we brought merchant ships here, in addition to warships. We can't trade with a planet devastated by raiders, can we?"

Brother Saul was obviously weakening.

"I believe we can add further to your forces." Rudy said happily. "We have a spare division of cruisers and a flotilla of destroyers. They're Yarrow S.A. models, regrettably, but they should be useful if all you want to do is defend a planet."

"I don't quite understand. There's a problem with Yarrow's ships?" Brother Saul said, with a quizzical look.

One of his officers spoke up. "The Yarrows are notorious for being heavily armed and armored, but incredibly slow."

Eddie nodded. "They can only make half the speed of our own cruisers and destroyers. Even most of our merchantmen can outrun them."

Brother Saul turned and looked at his disciples, and there was no question about what they thought.

"This is most generous of you, Marshall. We shall include you in our prayers." Brother Saul was almost gushing.

Rudy put an arm around Brother Saul, something that was noticed by everyone in sight. "We can sign the treaty tomorrow. Perhaps you'd like to see your new acquisitions?"

Brother Saul nodded happily and Rudy gestured for a Human Forces Command officer to come over. In a microt, they had left us with Brother Saul babbling his thanks to Eddie the whole way out.

"Brother Rudy?" Aida asked with a smile.

"I was educated by the Orthodox Catholic Church. They insured that I also got religious instruction. I'm quite at home in theological disputations, in fact."

Kathleen shook her head. "We could get more than theological disputations when Brother Saul's ordinance officers learn just what a bitch it is to repair sapphire matrix armor, or when he tries to link his AIs to damn near anything. Not to mention having his warships outrun by planetary garbage scows."

Rudy had an answer for that. "Then he can remember that he wouldn't have hardly any armored vehicles at all but for us, nor any ships more powerful than a few clapped out old missile frigates."

Eddie put his arm around his daughter. "We both got something we needed, Kath. Brother Saul and his troops have a good chance of protecting that Delvian colony now. They didn't before. We got rid of vehicles and warships that were taking up scarce maintenance assets just to keep them ready in case we ever did need them."

"Suppose we do need them in the future?" I asked. Now that was odd. When had we become "we"?

Aida answered the spoken part of my question. "What we gave Brother Saul is only a small part of our holdings of weapons and ships. Plus we're developing an industrial base here on Arsenal. So, if we ever get to the point…"

Eddie put his hand on her arm. Another officer was approaching us. He was quite a beautiful young man, the effect being enhanced by his makeup. His blond curls were each identical and perfect. His perfect body was set off by a skin tight green and gold uniform.

"Marshall O'Donnell, His Highness desires your presence. If you will follow me, Sir." He said, giving Eddie a slight bow.

Eddie and Aida exchanged a look and then headed after the retreating back of the young officer. Kathleen and I, having nothing else to do, followed. Rudy, oddly enough, remained behind.

"His Highness is Prince Paul. Or Prince Palsy as Daddy refers to him." Kathleen whispered to me. "But not to his face." She quickly added.

I had been keeping an eye on the group we were led to. It was one of the larger groups at the party to begin with, but throughout the night it had steadily attracted more and more mercenaries. Now, it was unquestionably the largest group.

Their leader was a tall, slender man with a full head of black hair and a well trimmed beard set on a narrow face. Cold black eyes stared at us, although he did smile.

"My dear Marshall O'Donnell, we must cease this foolish competition." He said in a seemingly hearty manner.

Eddie shrugged. "Your Highness, I'm not competing with you. I'm merely trying to recruit a few like-minded commanders who wish to take a long view of our position here in this new universe."

Prince Paul waved that aside dismissively. "I'm afraid you've failed. As you can see, the majority of commanders have decided to follow me."

Eddie only nodded.

His Highness went on. "I intend to reestablish my dynasty. I was deposed by cowards and traitors who basely sold themselves to my enemies. Enemies who didn't have the courage to face me in open battle."

The Prince's voice was starting to rise. He stopped and visibly settled himself down. He again smiled at us. "We humans can be a powerful and united force, technologically more advanced than the people of this universe. Whoever we support automatically becomes the strongest party and we become the key to that alliance. You operated much the same in your younger years, did you not?"

Eddy nodded. "This is different, I'm afraid, Your Highness. Here we could face unified star nations of hundreds of billions of subjects. And our technological superiority will not last."

"It can last!" Prince Paul said sharply. "Think, Marshall! There are hundreds, no thousands, of separate planets out here that only lack a strong hand to weld them into an empire. You seek to build a base here on one planet with whatever riff-raff are not suitable for soldiers. We can take planets with industries already built and with populations on hand to run our new industries. With a careful choice of allies and subject peoples, we can maintain our power. But we must be united and face this new universe as one!"

Eddie sighed, ever so slightly. I don't think Prince Paul noticed. "As I have said, Your Highness, I follow a different path, as do my officers and troops."

Prince Paul grimaced. "My army is stronger than yours, and my fleet is nearly as strong. If you will not join me, I warn you, do not consider opposing me. I will rule again!"

Eddie bowed slightly. "Your army is more numerous than mine and your fleet less numerous. As to strength, I think I still have the advantage in both cases. And it is not my purpose in life to oppose Your Highness. I am merely an old soldier seeking a home."

Well, even I didn't quite believe that.

Eddie and Aida backed up a few paces and left Prince Paul fuming.

"That went better than I expected." Eddie said, once we were beyond earshot.

Aida nodded. "He has learned not to immediately execute everyone who disagrees with him. A pity, that. He'd be easier to deal with if he were still the same brainless hot head he was twenty years ago."

"Well, if he does grab an empire, Aida my love, he'll need a better secret police than he had back home. He'll never get by on his military talents as he has none."

We were interrupted by one of Eddie's officers.

"Excuse me, Marshall. We have news." She said quietly.

"Good or bad?" Eddie asked.

The officer grinned. "Both, of course."

Eddie laughed. "What is it then, Brechingac?"

"Commodore Harwood, commanding Force G in _Exeter_ , 36, has arrived and asks to join us. He's escorting six transports carrying former POWs and political prisoners from Sibir. They also wish to join us."

Eddie stroked his lower lip, a gesture I found unsettling since it reminded me of John.

"Six ships full of prisoners will strain us. Where the hell will we house them? Aida, can we even feed them? We can, can't we?"

Brechingac cleared her throat. "The six ships are Jupiter class transports, sir."

"Good God!" Eddie said. "I assume that being from Sibir they're packed to the rafters with people?"

"Yes, sir." Brechingac replied.

Eddie turned to his wife. "We'll need your hand on this, my love. Coming from those bastards at Sibir, I'm sure these poor people are starved and sick. We could handle six regular transports with former prisoners, I suppose, but six Jupiters?"

Aida gave her husband a hug. "We have a good medical staff and the harvest has been good. We'll manage, love. We always do."

Aida hurried off with Brechignac. Eddie turned to us. "Kath, you're now my acting chief of staff, and Claudine, you are my new aide. For the evening, anyway, so don't put on airs. I doubt if much more will happen. Most of the rest of the commanders seem to be going over to offer their services to Prince Palsy."

"I think some may be having second thoughts." Kathleen said thoughtfully.

Sure enough, six officers had disentangled themselves from Prince Paul's entourage and were headed our way. Four wore a simple khaki uniform: pants with large cargo pockets on the thighs and jackets with four pockets. What appeared to be some sort of hats had been rolled up and tucked into various pockets. If they had any insignia, I didn't see it.

The other two were more formally dressed. One was short and squat, but looked to be muscular. He had on a very colorful raspberry colored jacket and was holding a billed hat of the same color.

The last was tall, quite skinny and dressed in a plain brown uniform with a wide brimmed hat.

The six came to a halt in front of us.

"Marshall O'Donnell," Said one of the khaki clad officers, "allow me to introduce myself. I am General de Brigade Jean Gilles. My officers are Colonel Langlais, Premiere Groupmente Aeroporte, Colonel Bigeard, Deuxieme Groupmente Aeroporte, and Colonel Trinquier, Groupe Mobile Cent. I also have the honor to be supported by General Drozdovsky and the Drozdovsky Shock Infantry Regiment, and Colonel Remington of Remington's Scouts."

General Gilles smiled at Eddie. "We were assured that Prince Paul would make every attempt to negotiate an alliance with you and Human Forces Command. When we saw he did not do so, but simply issued an ultimatum, we decided to offer you our services."

"Marshall O'Donnell, I can offer you the services of the finest light intervention division among the stars."

Eddie stared at the men for a few microts.

"The finest light intervention division among the stars?" he finally said, his voice quite low. "Bloody hell, gentlemen. Do you think I'm daft?"

"General Gilles, your GAPs are indeed fine light units with veteran officers and troops. But even when fully equipped, they're too bloody light. You have only a heavy mortar battery, and a small one at that, to support each GAP. You're short of engineers, signals units, transport, and bloody hell, what do you have for medical support? Your so called surgical companies have barely thirty-five people and two doctors. And, may I point out that's when you're fully manned and equipped, which you are not? And if you expect to survive for long in this new universe, you'll need more men and lots more equipment. And that'll have to come from me, won't it?"

He then turned on Colonel Trinquier. "Mobile Group you say? Mobile with what? You have half the transport that's needed and what you have is far too poorly armed and armored. Do you have any tanks left, sir? I ask you? And when last I heard, you had about half a field artillery battery to support your unit."

Colonel Trinquier said nothing. Eddy turned to General Drozdovsky. "The only shock in your regiment, sir, is the shock in finding it's filled with untrained raw recruits and lacking in all manner of weapons and equipment."

Lastly he turned to Colonel Remington, who visibly squirmed when Eddy looked at him. "A colonel, commanding a regiment of less than three hundred soldiers! Oh, you're good, all right. Your service on Minas Gerias proves that. But you can't scout for a division, even one as weak as this with what you have, colonel."

Four of the officers looked shocked. Strangely, Langlais was smiling. Bigeard merely looked glum.

Finally Gilles spoke. "If you do not desire our services, Marshall, I regret…"

Eddie interrupted. "I very much desire your services, gentlemen. But I desire an honest appraisal of your weaknesses as well as your strengths."

Gilles, Trinquier, Drozdovsky and Remington nodded. Interestingly, Bigeard was now grinning ever so slightly while Langlais' smile had widened.

"Do you find this amusing, Colonel Langlais?" Eddie suddenly asked.

"Mais, oui." Langlais replied. "Bruno here owes me fifty francs." He gestured to Colonel Bigeard. " I told him you were one smart, tough Anglo-Saxon son of a bitch and we wouldn't fool you one God damned bit."

Langlais held out his hand. Bigeard dug into a pocket and put a few bank notes into it.

"Quelle enmerdment!" Bigeard muttered.

Eddie laughed. "And that's one smart, tough Irish son of a bitch, Colonel Langlais."

Langlais shrugged. "Just another Goddam."

Rudy re-appeared from where ever he'd disappeared to. "Perhaps, gentlemen, you might wish to meet with Marshall O'Donnell's staff tomorrow? They can discuss re-equipment and increased personnel with you. Contact Captain Ott tomorrow afternoon, if you would? The Captain can arrange transportation to headquarters and in general help you out."

The six officers nodded and saluted Eddie. Then they headed for the closest bar.

"Well, they'll be a delight to work with, I'm sure." Rudy said sarcastically.

"You'd be surprised, Rudy. Defeat can change the way people look at things. And I noticed you didn't join me with Prince Palsy."

Rudy grimaced. "As well as being an idiot, he's a human supremacist. Or is that an oxymoron?"

"No, Rudy, you can be an idiot and not be a human supremacist."

Rudy sniffed. "Well, while you were matching half your wit against the divine right of kings personified, I was getting some work done." Rudy looked off into the dwindling crowd and then smiled. "Ah! Here he comes now."

"Oh bloody hell. Do I have to deal with him?" Eddie asked.

"You bloody well do." Rudy shot back.

The object of this discussion was fast approaching us. He was a stocky man in a plain grey uniform. His mouth was set in a grim line and his brows were furrowed.

"Prince Borghese," said Eddie, "how good to see you."

This new prince managed to increase his grimace. "I prefer to be called Captain Borghese. I wish to offer you the services of the Tenth Flotilla, but I require guarantees."

Eddie sighed. "Every commander here wants guarantees that he won't lose personnel or subordinate units, or have his best officers transferred…"

Borghese broke in. "I do not command any unit. The Tenth Flotilla has a division specially trained and equipped to operate in zero gravity and vacuum. Our ships are specially designed to transport and support such operations. I will not have such a unit, the only such division in existence, frittered away as ordinary infantry by commanders who do not understand its proper use. Nor do I intend to see my ships, which were neither designed nor equipped for normal fleet work, taken away from me."

Eddie counter-attacked. "And I cannot have a division that can be used in only those very special cases where its commander thinks it is needed. Nor can I deny my fleet ships that may be desperately needed, just because they have special equipment or training."

"And I might point out to you, Captain, that your so-called division consists of two under-strength battalions that are indeed highly trained and well equipped and four more with minimal training and equipment for zero G and vacuum combat."

"And, sir, your unit is not unique. I have such a unit as part of my Special Operations Regiment."

Borghese leaned forward aggressively. "A unit? A company! That's what you have and it's nowhere as well trained and equipped as mine. And with minimal time and expense, using my troops as cadre, I can provide two complete battalions of fully trained troops for use as the spearhead of my division with four more battalions of lesser quality as follow on troops. Further…"

Kathleen leaned over and put an arm around Eddy. "Marshall, may I speak to you?"

Eddie turned to her. "Not now. I'm busy."

Kathleen smiled broadly. "Perhaps I should rephrase that. Daddy, can I speak to you? Now!"

The conversation stopped as Eddie and Kathleen glared at each other. Borghese looked confused and Rudy was having trouble not smiling.

"Perhaps," said Rudy, "you can advise Colonel de Castries and me on some wine we've come upon here, Captain. I understand you have some expertise in oenology?"

Rudy led Borghese and me to a bar while Eddie and Kathleen continued to glare and whisper at each other.

Rudy had a bartender pour us some Delvian wine, which Borghese found quite good. At least I think he liked it. How the frell can wine taste flinty? It doesn't have rocks in it!

Finally the two O'Donnells walked back over to us, Eddie in the lead.

"My daughter has succeeded in convincing me that I'm still a stubborn Irishman." He began. "Captain, Borghese, the Tenth Flotilla is a unique and very valuable unit. Your successes certainly prove that. We have nothing that can come close to matching your abilities. And, given a relatively short period of time, great improvements can be made in your unit."

Eddie nodded at Kathleen. "My daughter has reminded me that your unit, being designed for zero G work, lacks artillery or armor, and most heavy infantry weapons, relying on your ships for fire support. It would be most unsuitable for the type of ground combat that the rest of my units perform."

"That said, I cannot predict what the future holds for us and cannot promise you that I would never have to use your unit as conventional infantry or use your ships in combat with enemy fleet units. I will promise that you will report directly to me and no one else and I hope you think I have enough sense not to fritter your unit away. Now, I'm sure you could get a better promise from Prince Paul, or from other mercenary commanders here tonight, but I doubt their words will match their deeds."

Eddie held out his hand and after a microt, Borghese shook it.

Rudy smiled, putting an arm around Borghese's shoulder. "Excellent! Captain Borghese, may I suggest you and your staff meet with the Marshall's staff tomorrow?"

In the time we had been talking to Borghese, Prince Paul and the officers that had elected to follow him had left, as had many other mercenary officers. A few commanders of small units came over to offer their services to Eddie, but it was obvious that this party was over.

The remaining officers gathered around Eddie. Soon they were deep in conversations about weaponry and tactics that I was totally unfamiliar with. Then I heard something from a group in brown coats that interested me.

"Well," said one, "these Sebeeceans are just like us, more or less, just look at the Vice-Marshall or Colonel O'Donnell. It stands to reason we can eat their food."

"Crunchy krolak?" One said, mangling the pronunciation.

I broke into their conversation. "Excuse me. Is there crunchy grolak here?"

They turned and nodded. "Yes, Colonel, up the second stairway, then down the hall. There's some Sebeecean…"

"Sebacean." I corrected.

"…Sebacean food there in a little alcove."

I turned and headed for the stairs.

It was odd. I had never cared much about what I ate. When I ceased being a Peacekeeper, I ate whatever food the crew of Moya was able to purchase on the commerce planets we visited. Since he had cut himself off from Earth, John had made an effort to duplicate Earth foods, with some success. I was perfectly happy to eat these foods, once John had perfected them. Rock hard "pancakes", very salty vanilla ice cream and stomach churning "hot dogs" were foods that John had tested on himself.

But for some reason I now wanted Sebacean food.

I reached the top of the stairs and found the alcove. There was a small table set up with only an auto-cooker preparing the food. But there was crunchy grolak, as well as pollabstra soup and grilled telliapin. In microts I filled a plate and found a bench to sit on.

I was contemplating a second helping of everything when I noticed a spot of pelota sauce on my trousers. Well, a little water would take care of that. Certainly the humans had a sanitary facility nearby.

Across the hallway was an open door leading to a darkened room. I decided that it was as good a place as any to look for a sanitary facility.

It took a micron or two for my eyes to adjust to the darkened room. I discovered I was not alone. Luckily, the couple sharing the large room with me were too involved in themselves to notice me. 


	12. Chapter 12

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Twelve

By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language. Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

I was about to quietly exit the room when I noticed that the man was trying to pull open the top of the woman's one piece orange jump suit. The kind of suit prisoners wore. A closer look confirmed that woman was Lieutenant Redd. Her partner pushed the top of her suit down her arms and off and began kneading her breasts. Redd wrapped her arms around her lover's neck and then wrapped her legs around his waist, kissing him passionately.

I could now see that both of the lovers were gray haired. The man was Gunner Ismaili.

I managed to get out of the room, much embarrassed, as Redd and Ismaili began to pull their remaining clothes off.

I got to the bottom of the stairs with my plate of food still in my hand to find Rudy waiting for me.

"I presume the slight flush I see on your face indicates that Gunner Ismaili and Lieutenant Redd are enjoying themselves?" Rudy asked.

"Is that any of your business?" I shot back.

Rudy nodded. "I told you that Redd could be valuable to us. With a human lover, or at least a recreation partner, Redd will be more inclined to favor us."

"You sent Ismaili to seduce Redd?" I asked.

Rudy smiled and shook his head. "For some reason Aida and Kathleen are inveterate matchmakers where Ismaili is concerned. But they seem to think he needs some young, bouncy lass who'll bring him his pipe and slippers in the evening and then snuggle up to him and tuck him into his bed at night."

I had to grin. "Ismaili would hate that."

Rudy nodded. "It seemed simple to ask Redd to take a quick look at our weaponry, without giving her access to anything classified, and asking her opinion about whether anyone here could duplicate them or come up with any countermeasures any time soon."

"Ismaili, being a weapons expert, would be the perfect person to supervise her. All I had to do then was let nature take its course."

I stopped and thought for a microt. Redd was a lifelong Peacekeeper. She'd enjoy recreating with a human, especially one who was a soldier like her. And, if they developed any kind of friendship, so much the better for her. So much the better for Ismaili, for that matter.

I gave Rudy a smile. "You are devious. But in this case, I think you're right, too."

"Of course, I'm right!" He shot back. "And I'm only devious when I need to be."

I decided not to ask how often he needed to be devious.

It was well I went to bed early that night as the next day was very busy.

"Aeryn!" called a voice outside of my door. "Time to get up."

Frell! It was Kathleen.

"What?" I mumbled. "What the frell is it?" I stared at the clock by my bed. "Do you know what frelling time it is, Kathleen?"

"We have intel about John."

That got me up. "I'll be ready in one microt." I called to her.

"Take your time." She called back. "We have a meeting set in an hour and a half with some people who don't know that the human Lt. Col. Claudine de Castries is really the Sebacean Aeryn Sun Crichton. They just know we are interested in a human named John Crichton. We'd like to keep them in the dark as much as we can."

I still got dressed as fast as I could. In under an arn, I found myself having breakfast with the three O'Donnells and Rudy.

"You know about the _Scipio Africanus_?" Eddie asked.

I nodded. "You use it as a smuggling craft to pick up intelligence about this universe."

" _Scipio Africanus_ has been doing business with a Sebacean settled planet not too far from here. They recorded a lot of communications traffic the last time they were there and we ran it through our computers. We came up with one un-coded message sent only nineteen days ago. It attracted our attention." Eddie handed me a data flimsy.

"The package for John Crichton will arrive as expected." I read.

Aida looked over my shoulder. "The addressee and the sender appear to be two minor functionaries in the palace at some place called the Royal Planet. Ever heard of it?"

I nodded. Oh, yes. I had heard of the Royal Planet. I explained as rapidly as I could how John had been forced to marry Princess Katralla, but had managed to leave with Katralla wedded to her lover, Counselor Tyno, but pregnant by John.

"But why would he go to the Royal Planet? And what does the message mean?" I asked, more to myself than anyone. I already had some ideas.

Rudy shrugged. "Coincidence? If John is being chased by hired assassins or kidnappers, he might have to grab the first available ship. The ship turns out to be headed for the Royal Planet. So he makes a virtue of necessity and sets up his operation to find you there."

Kathleen tapped her copy of the data flimsy. "And this is an unbreakable code. Someone set up the meanings of these words beforehand. The "package" could be money, a ship, a fleet of ships or just an actual package. "As expected" could mean to look for the money in your bank account now, or look for the ship at the spaceport in a week. Or anything else. And, it's just one of billions upon billions of clear text comms. No reason for anyone other than the intended recipient, to suspect it means anything anyone else would care about."

I thought for a micron. This didn't make sense. "Why would we need to keep this secret from anyone? Neither the sender or recipient of this message, or anyone else, knows about me."

Kathleen put a data chip in a reader. "We also received this from another mercenary commander. By a courier, who's here waiting for a response."

The micron I saw her smile, I knew she was in trouble. Of course she was in trouble. She was trouble.

"Hi, Aeryn." Chiana's image said. "Jool and I heard about your friend John Crichton, you remember him, right? I had a few ideas to help him out." The smile increased in size. "Um, things didn't quite work out like I'd planned."

"Oh, frell!" I muttered. "Of course they didn't."

Chiana's image ignored my comment and went on. "The nice man here has been very helpful, but he has run up some expenses because of us, and he won't let us go unless someone reimburses him. I knew you wouldn't mind."

Chiana's bright smile actually faded. "Um, I know you don't like her, but she has been a help and I said you'd be happy to…"

Chiana's image disappeared, to be replaced by that of a human male. He had a round head that had been completely shaved except for a luxurious blond mustache. Little else could be seen of him or his surroundings.

"Hullo, Marshall O'Donnell. I heard you've been looking for a human called John Crichton. I have three ladies here as my guests who share your interest. The local money hereabouts is called the krendar. You can have the women for a thousand krendars apiece. You don't have to pay for all three, of course. I can always find a use for women. One way or another."

"Who are these women? Do you know who the third one is? The message was cut off. Is that significant?" Eddie asked impatiently.

I explained as rapidly as I could who Chiana and Jool were and that I would gladly reimburse them the ransoms for the three women. Aida told me not to worry about that.

"I have no idea who the third woman could be." I went over the women Chiana would know I didn't like, starting with Commandant Grayza. I added in Sikozu for good measure and then added Empress Novia, because John might be connected somehow to the Royal Planet. Noranti? Great Cholak! Let it be anyone but Noranti.

Rudy nodded. "We'll run their names past the intel computers to see if we can find out anything about those women." Rudy then leaned back in his chair and rubbed his long jaw, staring at nothing in particular.

"This Chiana is smart."

Well, I could argue with that.

Rudy went on. "She apparently hasn't let Knowles know that Aeryn is Mrs. Crichton. And all that Knowles knows is that we're looking for a human named John Crichton. Since he's only asking for a thousand krendars apiece for them, he doesn't know John's value to us. Hmmmm!" Rudy continued rubbing and staring.

"Who the frell is Knowles?" I interrupted.

Aida answered. "Sir Robert Knowles. He commands a unit called the Grand Company. It was about a standard sized armored division, but now he has only about half the infantry and armor for a standard unit." She stopped. "He still has his full complement of artillery, though."

Kathleen continued the story. "Knowles is best known for making war very profitable. For that reason a lot of soldiers follow him."

"Isn't that what mercenaries are supposed to do? Make a profit?" It seemed a reasonable question.

"Knowles is little better than a well-armed bandit." Rudy suddenly said. "He'll descend on a lightly defended planet and terrorize the least defended parts. The towns would get "Knowles' haircuts", that is they'd be flattened. The citizens would get "Knowles' neckties". Their throats would be slit and their tongues pulled down to stick out their throats. After a while, Knowles would approach the larger and better defended towns and tell them that for a sum of money, he'd go bother another part of the planet. Most would pay up rather than face destruction. Of course Knowles would pull the same trick on every other city on the planet until he got back to his original victim, who by now had accumulated a bit more money for him to steal. When their money ran out, Knowles would demand the cities provide him with goods he could sell off planet. Things such as jewelry, precious metals, works of art from local museums, and when that ran out, he'd ask for attractive young women. And men."

Aida finished the sad tale. "Eventually, with the planet half ruined, Knowles would head for another planet and start the whole thing over again."

I glared at the four of them. "And why the frell doesn't someone stop him? By the Goddess! You have enough troops to flatten Knowles."

Eddie shook his head. "Knowles' troops know that they can't lose a battle. The winners would hang every damned one of them. I'd like to hang every one of the bastards, but I'd lose too many soldiers in defeating them. And, I'd antagonize people like Prince Paul, who see nothing wrong with using Knowles and his kind. I'm positive I can defeat Prince Palsy, but I'd wreck my own army doing it. I didn't bring my people here just so they could find their graves!"

"And Knowles isn't alone now." Rudy said quietly. "He has Daimyo Kurita Hideyoshi with him. Lord Kurita has a regiment of infantry with him. Oh, dear me! He must have five or six thousand soldiers, if little or no armor or artillery."

"Kurita's troops are survivors of the Yamato Civil War. The Yamatoans prized loyalty above all else, and each side in the civil war thought the other to be disloyal. So, they took no prisoners. They just murdered anyone who surrendered, military or civilian. Needless to say, Kurita's troops will fight to the death. "

"Someone else has joined Knowles." Kathleen added. "Graf von Brunswick and the Brunswick Legion are there, too."

"And they are?" I asked sourly.

"People originally from a place called Central Europe back on old Earth. Their ancestors had an irrational desire to go back to a simpler time. A place where hard working peasants tilled the land, thrifty tradesmen worked in the towns and villages, and a small and deferential middle class took care of the learned professions, as they called them. All of this to be run by the noble count in his castle."

"That doesn't sound so bad." I replied, still sourly.

Kathleen shrugged. "It wouldn't have been. Unfortunately a group called the Levelers arrived and set up a colony of their own. The Levelers were another European group who wanted to set up a perfectly equal society. A place where absolutely no one had more of anything than anyone else. Naturally, both groups despised each other."

Rudy laughed. "You'd think that two small groups of humans could manage to stay out of each other's way with a whole planet to share. They couldn't, of course. Brunswick was the richer and better armed society and the Levelers the more numerous. Eventually, Count von Brunswick and his troops were driven off the planet. The civilians either followed him or joined the Levelers. Most left the planet and most died. So von Brunswick became a hired gun for anyone with a reactionary point of view. He has a deeply ingrained hatred of anyone who is opposed to the established order."

Rudy reached across Aida and turned on a holographic map display of the Uncharted Territories. A star began blinking.

"We're here," Rudy said, pointing at the star, "at Arsenal."

A second star began blinking. "Knowles has taken over a Sebacean colonized world called Jolo here."

Yet another star began to blink. "And the Royal Planet is here. As you can see, they're more or less on a straight line."

Eddie took over. "And now were starting to have problems."

I didn't like the word "problems". "Eddie, if there's any problem, I can continue the search for John by myself. You've done far more than I had any right to expect as it is. If you can give me a spare Prowler and some money…"

Eddie laughed. "Aeryn, what I haven't done is what I said I'd do. Get John back to you. And that, among other things, is exactly what I intend to do."

Eddie used his hand, rather than the computer program to show us the problems he was worried about.

"Knowles is here at Jolo. And while the planet isn't exactly the crossroads of the universes, other people are learning there's a heavily armed human army in the neighborhood."

Eddie touched another star holo. "Brother Saul is negotiating with the Delvians. While no one will mistake Brother Saul for that bastard Knowles, it's more evidence that heavily armed humans are in the area."

Eddie ran his hand through an area lying between the Hynerian Empire and the Scarrens. "Several human pirates have begun operations in this area. Not to mention the alliteratively named Captains Billy Bragg and Hubertus Ho. Those two aren't quite pirates, but they're a pair of rare adrenaline junkies and scoundrels, and they do love trouble."

Eddie moved his hand to the other side of the Hynerian Empire's border with the Uncharted Territories. "Word is Pedro de Vargas is operating around here, John Chrysostom, Chen Li and Asaf Humayun are there somewhere, too. Neither one of them is a match for Knowles in sheer viciousness, but anyone who meets any of these people is not going to have a high opinion of the human race as neighbors."

Eddie sat back and stared at the map. "There are a couple of dozen small warships, destroyer size or smaller, that came through the Artifact that we haven't been able to track. And there are more, smaller human mercenary units that we haven't picked up yet. Every damned one is going to cause me problems when they start operating here."

"And what are we going to do?" There. I was referring to us as "we" again.

Eddie glanced at Aida and then Rudy who both gave him small nods.

"I'm going to take the fleet out on a reconnaissance. I'll leave Admiral Cunningham in charge here. The defense of Arsenal is a naval problem anyway. We'll take the ships that are fully manned and repaired and leave the rest here. Even damaged warships with raw crews are useful if all they have to do is defend a planet."

Eddie rubbed his lower lip. "There are still people coming here from the other side, but damned few large, formed units are coming and nothing resembling a hostile fleet is on the other side of the Artifact ready to come through. Cunningham can handle the newcomers."

"So we'll take what?" Aida asked.

"Three BatDivs, all of the operational armored cruisers, say sixty percent of the other cruisers, and escorts to match. We'll also load up our transports with our best units. Then we'll go out and say "Hello" to our new neighbors."

Rudy chuckled. "I think that Lt. Col. Claudine de Castries has outlived her usefulness. From what Chiana told him, Knowles will be expecting someone called Aeryn." Rudy stopped and stared at the ceiling for a microt. "Yes! Major Erin O'Riley. The major will be an intelligence officer, of course, running Chiana as an agent of ours. There'll be no need for a fancy legend, since if Knowles asks about Erin, Chiana, or this John Crichton, we'll just give him a polite smile and tell him that if he wants intel from us, he'll have to pay for it. "

And so I changed my identity once more. It wasn't that hard, since tens of thousands of troops had recently joined Marshall O'Donnell and thousands continued to arrive from the other side of the Artifact. As Eddie said, few were in any sort of formed units, but were simply large groups of ex-soldiers who for one reason or another had nowhere to go and no skill to sell other than their skill at arms. Most were easy enough to integrate into existing units to bring them up to strength, or to use to create new units. What loyalty they had was to Marshall O'Donnell who gave them food, shelter and a purpose in life.

As a Peacekeeper I had taken part in a few Fleet actions, but at the level of a Prowler pilot. As one of Aida's aides, I had a view of events from a much higher level.

Admiral Cunningham was a type I had met before. I was sure he drank a flask of chakon oil at breakfast and then complained it was too weak.

"I must protest, Marshall, at being left to defend a planet while the bulk of the fleet I have commanded heads for combat." He growled the next day when advised of his new duties.

"I must point out you are guarding our only planet, Admiral. Arsenal is, and will for some time be, our only logistics base. We cannot lose it, nor even allow it to be raided." Eddie said soothingly.

"Do you lack confidence in Admiral de Coucy's abilities to command the fleet?" Rudy asked.

Since de Coucy was Cunningham's protégé, he had to confess that de Coucy was perfectly capable of commanding the fleet. Cunningham was soon reconciled to his new job and set to work with a vengeance. More moonlets were dragged into orbit around Arsenal and missile batteries installed in record times. Damaged ships went into space dock and were repaired ASAP, or someone had a short, unpleasant meeting with the Admiral. Ground units were formed, equipped and begun training so fast that we ran out of barracks to house them in.

It was an odd sight to see Admiral Cunningham demanding of his mostly civilian agronomy staff as to why the wheat in Sector 9 North was growing so slowly. I'm sure if bellowing at the wheat to grow faster could have done anything, Admiral Cunningham was just the bellower to do it.

A few days later I was trying to eat something called a bagel while calling up data for Aida. As I ate and typed, another officer came in and saluted Aida.

"Admiral Cervera, how good to see you." If I hadn't seen her do this so many times before, I would have believed she actually was glad to see Cervera.

Cervera, a tall, spare officer with a thin face and a receding hairline, carefully brushed back, remained at attention.

"Vice-Marshall O'Donnell, I must protest your actions. Only my two armored cruisers are being left behind here. All of the other armored cruisers will accompany our first expedition in this new universe. There is no reason for this as my ships are perfectly capable of any operations required of them."

I worked hard at bringing up data on Cervera's ships, but luckily Aida was ahead of me.

"Admiral Cervera, both _Carlos V_ and _Don Juan de Austria_ have damaged main engines. The repairs were jury rigged and could fail at any time. In addition, your offensive and defensive missiles are of a type used only by your own ships and you have less than half a load out of each all together. Would you like me to discuss the damage the armor on your ships has suffered?"

Cervera gulped, but he wasn't done. "A brief time in space dock will…"

"Three months in space dock, Admiral. For each of your cruisers." Aida interrupted.

Cervera kept on. "Then I respectfully request to transfer my flag to the destroyer _Furor_ so that I may…"

"No!" Aida said forcefully. "No, Admiral Cervera. A destroyer does not need a rear admiral to command it and you are needed by your entire squadron."

Aida took a deep breath to settle herself and went on. "One day, if we live long enough, _Pelayo_ will limp in here hauled by her tugs, and when we've repaired and upgraded her, and the balance of your ships, you'll have a task force strong enough to face down ninety-five percent of our potential enemies out here. I will not throw away that future task force, Admiral."

Cervera was still angry at being left out, so Aida threw in a sweetener, to use a human phrase. She made a show of consulting the data I had sent her from my workstation.

" _Carlos V's_ weapons systems are in the best shape. If you transfer all of your missiles to her, we could move _Don Juan de Austria_ up on the schedule for the space dock as she'd no longer have an operational mission."

When he had left, I shot Aida a smile. "Well, if he didn't go away happy, at least he went away."

She smiled at my small joke. "Cervera can be the biggest pain in the eema, but he's the most honorable pain in the eema I know. At least when we send him out on a mission, we know he isn't going to set up his own empire somewhere."

Aida went back go studying something on her desk. Then she raised her head. "Aeryn, put something else on the "to do" list. Cervera uses his marines as gunners on his ships because he's short of people. If we provide him with trained spacers, he could form a battalion for landing operations."

Later.

"Vice-Marshall, this is madness." That was from a tall, slender and immaculately dressed naval officer, Admiral Douglas.

Douglas was the commander of the system defense boats that formed part of Arsenal's defenses. SDBs as they were called, lacked interstellar drives, so they couldn't leave their home solar system. But, they could use the space the drives would have used to pack in more and bigger missiles. So, a destroyer sized SDB had the firepower of a light cruiser.

Opposite him, slouched in a chair and wearing a battered coverall and a week's growth of straggly beard was Captain Dunkel. Dunkel was a merchant captain who commanded Arsenal's only asteroid mining vessel, the five hundred thousand ton _Red Dwarf_.

"Madness," replied Dunkel, "is pulling my ship into orbit around Arsenal just when our factories most need the metals and gasses we mine. We mine from asteroids so we don't have to go to the enormous expense and difficulty of lifting them out of a gravity well. That's why we build our bloody ships in space. And the best and highest concentrations of those metals are in the debris rings around Blue Eye."

Blue Eye was a gas giant that was the sixth planet in Arsenal's twelve planet solar system.

Douglas glared at Dunkel. "And Blue Eye is one hundred and twenty six local astronomical units out from Arsenal. Far beyond the range of any of our orbital missiles. Admiral Cunningham, rightly in my mind, won't commit any of our battered fleet units to defend _Red Dwarf_ , and that leaves just my SDBs. If I try to defend both Arsenal and Blue Eye, I can be defeated in detail and we could lose both planets. I cannot provide any support for Blue Eye without risking Arsenal, which I cannot do."

Dunkel began to reply, but Aida waved him into silence. She went over data on her workstation for a few microts.

Finally she looked up at the two. "We'll have all of the nearby systems picketed in six days. If we do get attacked, we'll have about twelve hours' notice. How close can you get _Red Dwarf_ to Arsenal in twelve hours?" Aida asked Dunkel.

Dunkel scratched his head. "It'll take me longer to recall the mining teams…" he began.

"No!" Aida cut him off. "How close can you get to Arsenal with twelve hours' notice if you start as soon as you get a warning?"

Dunkel shrugged. "Halfway. Maybe a bit more."

Aida nodded and turned to Douglas. "You could put a dozen SDBs near _Red Dwarf_ to slow down any attackers. That should get _Red Dwarf_ well inside our defensive missile array."

Douglas nodded. "What about the crews on _Red Dwarf's_ boats and those at the temporary mining camps?"

"Captain Dunkel, have your ships boats and mining camps stockpile air, water food and other necessities in caves on small moonlets. If we get attacked, they'll have to ride out the attacks by themselves. If Arsenal is destroyed, well, then they are obviously on their own."

Dunkel whistled softly. "Well, no one told me asteroid mining was the way to die old and in bed."

Aida smiled. "Admiral Douglas was at First and Second Pharsalus. He knows all about not dieing of old age."

And so I spent two weekens helping Aida prepare Arsenal for the departure of the vast human army and fleet that now called it home. And each night before I fell asleep I prayed to gods I really didn't believe in for John's safety.

At last we were in a ship's boat, headed for the fleet flagship, _Donegal,_ 120\. O'Donnell's massive flagship sat at the center of the fleet. Humans, like some other races, used a globe formation. The battleships were in the center. Outward from them were the armored cruisers, followed by the rest of the cruisers, then destroyers and missile frigates, assuring that any enemy would face the full firepower of the fleet no matter which direction they attacked from. The transports with their troops and the fleet train with our supplies were similarly arrayed well to our rear.

At the front, flanks and rear of the entire fleet were scouts. These were destroyer sized ships that consisted about equally of engines, sensors and weapons with the crews crammed into any available space remaining.

The trip to Jolo took another two weekens.

"What do you make of that?" Aida asked me as we sat in the CIC on _Donegal_ staring at the holo reproduction of the Jolo system that our AIs had provided.

I knew exactly what to make of that. An icy feeling started in the pit of my stomach. "Charrid corsairs, no doubt about it. I make it four of them. No wait, six. There are a good dozen merchant ships in orbit around Jolo. I'm not sure about the rest, but the two in high polar orbit are Delvian."

"Were Delvian." Aida corrected. "They're Charrid prizes now."

"Marshall." said one of the sensor operators. "There are readings from the outer solar system that are a lot like what we're getting from the corsairs. Maybe another pair."

"Any ideas as to why they'd hide out there?" Aida asked me.

I shook my head. "Lots of ideas, but no evidence of anything."

Aida looked across at her husband.

He smiled at her. "Well, my love, I suggest that I go a calling on Sir Robert and see how much this will actually cost us."

Aida was about to say something to him, doubtlessly another complaint at being left in command of the fleet while her husband went planet side. She was interrupted by the comm officer.

"Communication from the ground."

There was a burst of static and then a panicky voice from the ground. "Who are you? What do you want?"

Eddie laughed. "Don't be worryin', me bucko. T'is only Marshall Edmund Burke O'Donnell and a part of Human Forces Command come for a friendly visit with Sir Robert. Will you let him know that I'm about?"

Now assured that he wasn't about to be vaporized, the voice on the ground became more assured. "The Viceroy is aware that you've arrived. As this planet is a war zone, he authorizes you to bring a battalion sized escort for the trip from the spaceport to the Viceregal Palace. Once in the palace, you may bring an escort of no more than a fifty man platoon."

Eddie smiled. "As I will be in a war zone, I'll be bringin' a battalion with me. But inside the palace, I'll trust myself to the well-known courtesy of the Viceroy."

Eddie nodded to the comm officer and comms were cut.

"And I'll trust myself to the fact that Knowles knows my dear wife will have his skull for a drinking cup should anything befall me."

Aida still looked unhappy. "What the frell is this about Knowles being a Viceroy? Jolo's an independent planet." She glared at the staff members crowded into the CIC, but none of them had any ideas.

"Doubtlessly he's puttin' on airs, my love." Eddie said softly. "I remember the best thing about bein' Captain O'Donnell when I was young was bein' able to impress a certain alien soldier with my new rank."

Aida shook her head. "It was never your rank that impressed me."

"I know that now, my love, but I was young and foolish then."

Before Aida could accuse him of now being old and foolish, Eddie turned to face his staff. "I believe the second battalion of the Guards has the duty, does it not?" A Guards officer nodded in reply. "Well, then let us be off to see how Knowles could ever become a Viceroy."

As Major Erin O'Riley, I accompanied Eddie. Everyone except Eddie and Rudy were in power armor and the battalion battle group of the Guards probably had as much combat power as any regiment on the planet below us.

On the way down, I moved over next to Rudy. "Finding Charrids here is bad. They may be good soldiers, but they're sadistic bastards at heart. When Knowles starts taking young people to sell off planet, the Charrids will buy them. They won't use them for sex slaves, but for food."

Rudy patted my armored arm. "We're aware of the Charrids, Aeryn, and what they're like."

Frell! There was no point in arguing with him. No one really knew what Charrids were like that hadn't seen them and the aftermath of one of their raids.

The spaceport we landed at was a good two arns from the so-called palace. The spaceport appeared to have been shot up in the initial invasion and little had been done to make repairs.

Knowles had provided an escort for us, of sorts. Colonel von Peppel had taken service under Count von Brunswick. His "regiment" consisted of less than two hundred men mounted in old open topped combat cars and in very lightly armored blower trucks. The troops' personal armor was worn and patched and their weapons were obsolescent. After seeing O'Donnell's troops, they were not impressive. Unless you were an unarmed citizen of Jolo.

Von Peppel was equally unimpressive when we finally found him. The Guards battalion was ready to go, but von Peppel was mysteriously absent. Our battalion commander, Lt. Col. Michael Hope-Grant, a tall and imposing officer with skin the color of the space between the stars walked over to von Peppel's command bunker. I tagged along behind.

"How the fuck can I pay you for the damned artillery? That old bastard won't hand over the cash just because I ask for it, now will he? The mayor is going to need a couple of rounds dropped on his damned town…"

"Hello. Hello." von Peppel screamed at his comm.

"Division Artillery cut the connection, sir." A bored voice announced from deeper in the bunker.

Von Peppel finally noticed us. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Hope-Grant. Commanding Marshall O'Donnell's escort. Viceroy Knowles advised us you'd provide our escort, so we don't get lost or something." He replied politely.

"Knowles said that? Well, the main road to the palace is right out front. It's long and flat and…" Suddenly von Peppel stopped and a sly smile spread over his face. "What kind of escort do you have for this Marshall?"

Hope-Grant shrugged. "Not much. A battle group of the Marshall's Guard Regiment. Two tank companies, two armored infantry companies, an artillery battery, cavalry troop…."

Before he could finish, von Peppel pushed his way past us and out of the bunker to look at the Guards battalion drawn up in front of their transports. "Holy fuck!" He exclaimed. "Look, if we cooperate, we can make some money here.."

It was Hope-Grant's turn to cut off von Peppel. "Marshall O'Donnell is paying a courtesy call on Viceroy Knowles and we're in a hurry. Now, if you could provide a few people to show us the way, we'll be off. That road over there, I believe you indicated?" Hope-Grant said gesturing vaguely to his left.

Von Peppel shook his head violently. "That road? For a guest of the Viceroy's? No way. It's lousy with mines and ambushes. I know the sweetest shortcut to the palace. You just follow me and I'll get you to the Viceroy with no problems."

Without waiting for a reply, von Peppel began bellowing to his troops to mount their vehicles and move out. We headed out with von Peppel's rag-tag troops in front and the Guards trailing behind.

The first twenty or so metras were depressingly similar. Along the sides of the road were burned out villages and some Sebacean bones. Crops and orchards had been carbonized by the mercenaries' power guns. After twenty metras we began to see crops growing in the distance, but no other signs of life.

Finally we came to a small city on a hill. Around the outskirts were recently dug trenches and everything beyond the trenches had been torn down to deny cover to an approaching enemy. A bright bolt of green light shot out from the town, setting fire to a tree a hundred motras from us.

"Mining laser, I believe." Rudy said. We were riding together with Eddie and Kathleen in a command vehicle. "No problem at this range, but if von Peppel got close enough to use his 2cm tri-barrels, his troops would get fried."

Eddie just nodded.

"I've got von Peppel's comms up." A voice said.

I heard him through the comms in my power armor.

"I don't give a fuck what I said before, the price is now fifty thousand krendars. If you don't pay up, well, I finally got the balance of my regiment here and I'll blow your stinking shithole town down around your ears. And the last thing your precious fucking daughters will ever see is my face. Do you fucking understand me?"

I suppose we could have told the mayor that our battalion wasn't part of von Peppel's unit and that we had no intention of attacking him, but we didn't. The mayor agreed to pay and von Peppel sent two trucks and a combat car into the city to pick up the money.

I sat on the rear deck of the command vehicle and watched von Peppel's troops as their vehicles came back with their loot. They didn't trust their commander one bit, and I didn't blame them. They insisted that the money be shared out there and then. Then they began arguing about the split.

While they were arguing, one of von Peppel's soldiers walked out of the forest and between the command vehicle I was in and the tank behind us. He had a young Sebacean woman with him, a gag over her mouth and her hands tied behind her. They crossed the dirt road we were on and disappeared into the trees.

I turned and gave a savage glare to Eddie. Before I could say a word, Eddie turned away from me to face the trees on the other side of the road. As he did so, he moved his hand oddly towards the forest into which the mercenary and his captive had just vanished.

Was he telling me to follow them?

Frell! I had no trouble deciding what to do. I dropped the helmet down, snapped it shut and dropped to the ground, all in one motion. I had gotten much better at using power armor than I had been back on the mis-named pleasure planet.

I caught up with them in microns. Perfect! The bastard was facing away from me with his captive backed up against a tree. He was too busy tearing her clothing away to notice me. My armored hand shot out, grabbed his neck and twisted, hard. I felt a very satisfying snap.

"Run. Go home!" I whispered to the woman, tucking the dead soldier under one arm. Not ten metras away was a monster tree. I climbed up it a good thirty metras and wedged the dead body between some branches.

When I got to the ground again, the woman was still there, staring straight ahead and crying.

"Get out of here! Go back home!" It was no use. She was too terrified to move. I picked her up and walked back to the road. Von Peppel's troops were still fighting over their loot and there wasn't a single Guard to be seen anywhere.

I walked the woman across the road and a good twenty metras into the trees on the other side.

"Go home!" I barked at her and gave her a shove. This time she ran.

I pulled myself back up onto the rear deck of the command vehicle. As soon as I was settled, Rudy and Eddie opened their hatches and joined me. Neither said a word.

I had hoped that no one would notice or care that one mercenary was missing. No such luck. My next hope was that they wouldn't find him. Again, no luck. Von Peppel didn't trust his troops not to lose or sell their weapons, so all weapons had tracers in them.

In a few microns, one of von Peppel's officers was standing at the base of the tree with a squad of mercenaries. He was ordering one of the soldiers to climb the tree, with little success. Hope-Grant and I stood a few metras behind them, observing.

Von Peppel's officer wasn't having any luck getting anyone to climb the tree. He had started out with orders, then turned to threats and now was reduced to trying to bribe a soldier to go up and look. The soldier stood at the base of the tree, looking up and shaking his head.

Hope-Grant shouldered his way through the soldiers in front of the tree. Easy enough, since he was wearing power armor and they weren't. He made a show of examining the tree.

"I say, but you have a sciora on this planet. Look at those claw marks!" He said cheerfully.

"A what?" Was the reply.

"Local predator out here in the Uncharted Territories, don't you know?" He turned back and rubbed his armored hand over the trunk. "Big bastard, too. Must weigh eight hundred pounds if he's an ounce."

The officer examined the tree, where the marks I had made climbing clearly showed. "What the fuck is a sciora?"

"Predator." Hope-Grant responded lightly. "A lot were taken off their home world to be hunted, you see. At least one must have ended up here." Hope-Grant expounded further on the non-existent predator. "They have eight legs, don't you know? Like a spider, except the sciora are mammal analogs. They live in the trees and swoop down on their prey, break their necks and take them to the top of the trees to let the bodies rot until they're nice and tender."

It suddenly occurred to me that the humans had excellent sensors in their vehicles. Hope-Grant would have had no trouble at all tracking me through the forest, even if he couldn't see me.

"Is there just one of these things? Or do they hunt in packs?" Someone asked.

Hope-Grant thought for a microt. "I think they do when it's mating season? Or is it after mating season? Or perhaps…"

"Back to the vehicles, now." The mercenary officer barked to his troops.

"What about Wim?" Someone asked.

"He got himself up there, he can get himself down."

True enough from my point of view, even if his comrades would have thought differently if they had known the truth. 


	13. Chapter 13

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Thirteen

By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language. Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

The mercenaries fired twice at something in the short time it took us to get back to the road.

Once back, von Peppel advised us that he was headed straight back to the spaceport. In spite of his previous statement that the main road was mined and subject to ambushes, he blithely announced that we could cut across to the main road and be at Knowles' palace before dinner.

Indeed, we pulled up to the palace at mid-afternoon without a problem.

The palace had probably been the mansion of the wealthiest person on the planet. It was Sebacean Colonial style, all pastel towers surrounding an airy white circular building enclosing a court yard. However, up close, the building was shabby and battered.

The Guards set up in a defensive formation outside the palace. Eddie, Rudy, Kathleen and I, along with two aides walked into the palace.

It was full of people. Bored looking soldiers, trelks plying their trade, hard faced off-planet merchants doubtlessly come to buy the cargos of the ships in orbit, sellers of food and drink, all jostled against one another among piles of loot. It stank of sweat, urine, rot and fear.

I noticed that Rudy was attracting a number of hostile glances. One power armored soldier spat at him, but missed.

I leaned over and whispered in Kathleen's ear. "They don't like non-humans around here?"

She nodded.

"Is bringing Rudy a good idea then?"

"Yes." She said, with just the hint of a smile. "It gives them something to watch."

Ahead of us a half a dozen power armored guards blocked a large doorway. They were the first alert and competent looking soldiers I'd seen on the planet. A slender human dressed in an odd red cloak stepped out from behind them.

"You have presents for the Viceroy? You can't come to see the Viceroy and not bring a gift. It isn't done." He said haughtily.

"You are so kind to remind us, sir." Rudy replied. "And you are?"

The official blinked as if surprised to be spoken to by a non-human. He addressed himself to Eddie. "I'm Master of the Palace Ordonez. I see to the Viceroy's every need. His every need."

I noticed two other men edging forward, both apparently civilians.

One came to stand by Ordonez and made a neat bow to us. "I am Baron von Stehl, Chancellor to His Grace, Count von Brunswick. I trust you have a little something for His Grace?"

"How dare you!" Roared the other man, who was short, fat and wore a silk robe with a picture of some sort of large Earth animal on it. What was it? I had seen one before when I had been on Earth. Had it been on the television?

The little man drew himself up to his full, unimpressive height. "I am Toyotomi Hideyori, Chamberlain to Lord Kurita. How dare you push in front of me you hairy, long nosed barbarian?"

Von Stehl casually dropped his right hand to the holstered pistol he wore.

"Gentlemen." Ordonez cried. "Please. All of our masters await Marshall O'Donnell and his party. We dare not offend them with petty bickering." While making his speech, Ordonez held his hand out.

Rudy pulled something out of his pocket, wrapped in a bright silk square. "For Viceroy Knowles, Marshall O'Donnell has brought a priceless Delvian bracelet. It is made of seven perfect emeralds, each with the sacred symbols of the Delvian Seek carved into them. The jewels are set in platinum which was cast by master craftsmen, now thousands of years dead."

While Ordonez carefully examined his master's present, Rudy turned to Toyotomi. "For your master, Marshall O'Donnell has selected a priceless black pearl from the Albegnesian Sea on a famous lost planet thousands of parsecs from here." Rudy dropped his voice to where I could barely hear it and leaned close to Toyotomi. "It is said to amplify the wearer's sexual potency."

Rudy turned to von Stehl. "To Count von Brunswick, Marshall O'Donnell presents a ruby pendant. If you examine the carving, you'll see that it's rather saucy."

Von Stehl took the pendant and squinted at the carving. "It isn't saucy. It's pornographic. I'm sure the count will love it." He said with a wide smile.

The three left us, taking the presents to their masters, leaving us facing the row of armored soldiers.

As we waited, I leaned over and whispered to Rudy. "We're giving them priceless antique jewelry?"

Rudy smiled slightly. "Aeryn, any modern industrial civilization can produce any gemstone you could want with carbon, pressure and heat. Pearls aren't any harder to do. As far as the intricate designs and carvings by master craftsmen, well, why would I hire the best forgers in the Universe and not use them?"

Before I could reply, the soldiers stood aside for us and a loud voice announced us. "Marshall Edmund Burke O'Donnell, Colonel Kathleen Rose O'Donnell, Major Erin O'Riley and Mr. Vergraah."

Knowles' throne room was vast. Too vast, in fact. Knowles was seated on a throne raised above us, surrounded by a dozen or so bodyguards and hangers-on.

Below him sat a second man who was wearing a robe with the odd Earth animal on it. Tiger! That was it. Beyond Kurita were two armored guards and his chamberlain.

Finally, with one leg slung over the arm of the chair, was von Brunswick, dressed all in black but for a small silver insignia on his chest. There were no more than twenty other people gathered in the room, clustered together in groups of two or three, with enormous spaces between them.

Knowles appeared to be an enormous man, until I saw that under his white, fur-trimmed robes, he had on power armor.

"You brought your dog with you I see? And two whores." Knowles said nastily.

Rudy smiled. "Good to see you again, too, Viceroy Knowles."

Before Knowles could reply, Eddie spoke up.

"And how in the devil did you become a Viceroy, Sir Robert?" He said with a disarming smile.

Knowles shot him a suspicious glance. "I was appointed by the true rulers of this world, to uphold their interests."

"Ah!" Eddie replied. "And the true rulers would be?"

"That's my business. It's all in my contract. All legal. Are you suggesting it isn't?"

Eddie waved his hands dismissively. "Never a thought of it. Just wondering if such honors were easy to come by hereabouts."

Knowles smiled. It wasn't a reassuring smile.

"They are, if you know your business."

"Ah, business. Perhaps we should discuss the ladies I came here for."

"This is intolerable!" Kurita exploded. "We were to share the profits of this world in proportion to the assets that we contributed to the enterprise. I am being left out of the negotiations entirely. I demand my rightful share!"

Von Brunswick swung about in his chair to face Kurita. His white hair was so long that, braided, it reached his waist and swung about as he moved. "Not the same thing at all. I'm afraid. The Viceroy and I ran across three ladies in distress who owe fealty to Marshall O'Donnell. We gave them aid and in doing so, incurred some small expenses. Now, the three of us, being gentlemen, are resolving the matter of cost."

The implication that Kurita was not a gentleman was clear. He shot to his feet. "I will suffer no more insults from you. I demand…."

"You demand nothing!" Knowles roared, slamming his armored hand down on the arm of his throne. "I rule here and by God, I will rule."

I noticed some slight movement at the far reaches of the room. Perhaps there were more people in the room than I had thought. More armed and armored people.

Knowles stared at his fellow mercenary for a few microns. "Lord Kurita," he finally said, "whatever our differences or difficulties, we are more secure and wealthier together than we ever would be apart." His gaze shifted to von Brunswick. "I trust all appreciate that?"

Brunswick simply nodded.

Knowles turned to one of the guards. "Bring the ladies out."

In microts, Chiana and Jool were escorted out to stand between Knowles and us. They looked none the worse for wear, although Jool's hair was a flaming red.

"Aeryn!" Chiana cried when she saw me.

"Silence, girl!" I snarled at her. "I'll have no more of your lies. We'll interrogate you on the ship. We'll see what stories you tell us then."

Chiana and Jool took the hint and said not another word.

"I am afraid, Marshall O'Donnell, that I have incurred a greater expense than I had originally calculated." And with that lie from Knowles, the sale of Chiana and Jool began.

It cost us twenty-four hundred krendars for the two of them. I hoped that whatever idiocy had prompted them to come to Jolo in search of John would be worth the cost.

Eddie turned to von Brunswick. "And you have a third woman, Count?"

He nodded, shooting Eddie a knowing smile. "That I do. Although I'm unsure how much of her story is a fabrication, it does appear that she is associated with Lady Chiana, and so with you."

"And your expenses?" Kathleen interrupted.

"I cannot be as generous to my guests as the Viceroy, therefore my expenses are one thousand krendars."

"Done then, sir." Eddie replied.

"Bring the lass out." Brunswick called to someone behind him.

Chiana was right. I didn't like her. I would have been happy to leave her where she was, but perhaps she could help me find John. When she saw me, she smiled, as if greeting an old friend. She actually looked happy to see me.

"Why, hello, Aeryn."

"Hello, Jenavian." I said with no enthusiasm.

Von Brunswick slapped Jenavia on the eema as she passed. She turned around and gave him a smile. "Good-bye, dear Count. I'm sure we must meet again."

Von Brunswick smiled in return, and nodded. Obviously he had fond memories of Jenavian Chatto.

"So, Marshall O'Donnell", he said, "Lady Chiana, Lady Jool and Lady Jenavian are all your spies? You are a fortunate man."

Eddie shook his head. "Lady Chiana is my agent. She recruited Lady Joolushko as her employee. Lady Jenavian is more of an independent contractor, you might say."

Knowles broke in. "This John Crichton you're searching for. I've never heard the name before. He's not an officer of any company I've ever heard of, nor a ship commander. He's certainly not a banker or merchant. Why do you search for him?"

That was my cue. "He's a thief. Stole a ship. We cannot allow him to get away. If we did, we'd have no ships left."

"Stole a ship?" von Brunswick said, scratching his head. "All by himself?"

"He stole a courier ship. It only has a crew of four normally and everything is run from the bridge. No need for an engineer in one place and a pilot elsewhere."

"She'd be faster than anything they have over here." Von Brunswick said thoughtfully. "Faster than most ships we brought here. He could make some money smuggling, couldn't he?"

No doubt what von Brunswick had in mind.

In spite of the fact that we were done, Knowles insisted we stay for dinner and entertainment. Now that he had gotten his ransom, perhaps he felt the need to act the great lord.

I hated it. The food was mediocre. Human cooks had no idea how to prepare Sebacean foods.

The entertainment was worse. It consisted of naked women, most Sebacean, some human. Naked women singing, naked women dancing, even naked women reciting an excruciatingly long poem detailing the martial and sexual prowess of Viceroy Knowles. That was followed by naked acrobats and naked comedians.

Throughout it all, von Brunswick kept a close eye on our table.

I did find some entertainment that night. There were two clumsy attempts to seduce me. I would have liked to know if two separate people were trying to compromise Major O'Riley, or if it was just one determined person. Alas, I would never know. I sent both young men packing quickly.

Finally, we were done with the interminable entertainment and were able to leave the frelling planet and get back to the fleet. As soon as I could squeeze out of my armor, I confronted Chiana and Jool. Kathleen was with me and Rudy had taken Jenavian to have a private chat, as he called it, with her.

I pushed my face right into Chiana's. "If you know anything that will help me find John, start talking now."

"Aeryn, we can help, really we can. All you have to do is trust us. It's like this, see…."

"We don't have any information that can help you." Jool interrupted.

"Jool! I told you to let me handle this!" Chiana squealed.

"Is that correct, Chiana?" I barked at her.

"Well, sort of. Technically, maybe."

"Jool! You will tell me what happened."

And tell me she did. Chiana had been on Hyneria when my children arrived. Jool arrived shortly thereafter with a rumor of humans having landed on a nearby world. Unable to resist the lure of the huge reward that Rygel had offered for information about John, Chiana had somehow "procured" transportation to Jolo from a low level Hynerian government employee who had obviously been too impressed with Chiana's stories about her close relationship with Rygel. Jool had apparently been talked into accompanying Chiana.

They had been arrested almost as soon as they landed in Jolo. Chiana, being Chiana, had tried to lie her way out of things, which only further convinced Knowles' security troops that they had a spy on their hands. However, she had said she was looking for a human named John Crichton. The mercenaries' grapevine had brought word that Marshall O'Donnell was also looking for one John Crichton and Knowles' henchman got the idea that Chiana and Jool were O'Donnell's agents.

"So, we've wasted twenty-four hundred krendars getting you two back from Knowles. " I turned to Kathleen. "Do we have any heavy labor type jobs we can put these two to doing to recoup our losses?"

Before Kathleen could answer, Jool spoke up. "Knowles is as creepy in his own way as Scorpius was. He made me well aware of what he'd do to me if Human Forces Command decided not to pay my ransom. I decided I'd want to repay him if I got free. I paid very close attention to everything around me, and please remember I have an excellent education. Would you like to know the details of the planetary power grid? Information on the spaceport's sensor array?"

Kathleen nodded. "We would."

"Then that will pay off our debt to you."

"Hey!" Chiana said. "What am I? Chopped drannit meat? I can give you intelligence, too. Just don't think you're going to get what I know for a lousy couple of krendars."

"I can assure you that Chiana can describe the sexual proclivities of the members of Knowles' court in great detail." Jool said coldly.

Kathleen called in one of her intelligence officers and sent Chiana and Jool off to be de-briefed.

"Now to Jenavian."

I had explained to the O'Donnells and to Rudy what my relationship with Disrupter Jenavian Chatto had been.

Kathleen shook her head. "Give Rudy another quarter of an hour or so. Then we'll do good mercenary, bad ex-Peacekeeper."

We walked in on Rudy and Jenavian a quarter of an arn later. Rudy had taken her to a nice, cozy little debriefing room that looked more like some senior officer's quarters.

"What do you know about John?" I snapped.

Jenavian gave me a slow smile, the kind you used on a cadet who had just frelled up, but who you felt had promise.

"Aeryn, there are some things that…."

She got no farther. I snap kicked her in the stomach, and as she bent over clutching her midsection, I pulled one of her arms behind her back and pulled up. I slammed her face down onto a table and pulled my pistol and poked its muzzle against her right looma. "Now tell me everything you know about John Crichton! Start with anything you know about where it is. If you don't, I'll start shooting holes in your favorite parts."

"Mr. Vergraah!" She wheezed. "Is this the way you treat the representative of a friendly nation?"

"Mr. Vergraah!" Kathleen snapped. "We have cared for, fed, clothed and armed Aeryn Sun Crichton. By the Laws of War, she is a member of the Marshall's household. And, this is a matter of family! You dare not interfere."

Rudy did a very good impersonation of someone with no options, but still trying to help his new friend. "Colonel O'Donnell, please. I must agree with your legal interpretation, but we can surely find some common ground. If only you will restrain Major Sun. Certainly…"

"I'll tell you what, Jenavian, You pick which one I shoot off. The left one or the right one." I said nastily.

Jenavian sagged slightly. I tensed. Was she about to try to get away?

"All right, Aeryn. You win. But I have no idea where John is. Not a clue."

"So why were you looking for him?" I shot back.

"Wormholes."

"Wormholes! Wormholes?" I sneered. "How many frelling times do we have to tell you Peacekeepers, John no longer has any wormhole knowledge!"

"Aeryn, "Jenavian said tiredly. "I don't pick my assignments. I go where I'm told and do what they tell me to do, like a good little Disrupter."

"Except for a few people like Scorpius, no one thinks John has any knowledge worth pursuing, and even Scorpius admits John has only the dregs of the knowledge he once had. But before John Crichton came along, the existence of wormholes was only a bizarre theory held by scientific techs who were considered to be, well, a fringe group."

"But people have noticed that as soon as a human showed up, wormholes started popping up all over."

"Did it occur to anyone that they "popped up" because for once people were looking for them?" I asked acidly.

Jenavian ignored me. "Now we've heard of a new group of humans who have arrived from what appears to be another universe, via something like a wormhole."

"It's a frelling planet sized machine made by some long vanished race with a bizarre sense of humor, as my husband likes to say. The frelling thing is run by a tame black hole. I sincerely hope no one on this side is foolish enough to try to disassemble it to see how it works."

"Not my concern." Jenavian said with a shrug. "And now it's not my main concern. This is quite a surprising group of humans. Not bad at all for a single planet of barbarians."

"Humans will surprise you." Kathleen said with a smile.

Rudy stood, drew himself up and looked very determined. "If you are quite done, Colonel, I still believe that we can come to some sort of mutually satisfactory alliance with Disrupter Chatto."

With that, Rudy escorted Jenavian out of the room.

In another arn, the three O'Donnells, Rudy and I met in Marshall O'Donnell's quarters.

Rudy poured some Delvian whiskey over ice cubes, then sat in a large leather chair. "Disrupter Chatto is a very intelligent and well trained agent. It'll be a challenge to get more intel out of her than she gets from us."

Eddie nodded. "You'll manage, Rudy. There's plenty we want the people over here to know about us. If you keep her busy with that, she won't have a chance to get the stuff we'd like to keep to ourselves."

I wasn't sure that made sense. "Why would you want others to know about you? The Peacekeepers always made a point of keeping everything secret about themselves."

Rudy swirled his drink around in his glass and then took a sip. "Advertising, for one thing. Knowledge that one of our armored cruisers can take out command carrier, admittedly one lacking in trained crew and in need of repairs, will encourage people to hire us. But, we don't want anyone to know the details of our systems that allow us to destroy a command carrier, since that could be used against us."

"Conversely, if people know just how good you are, they're less likely to try anything with you."

"So why not demonstrate your power on Jolo and get rid of that bastard Knowles?" That caught them off guard.

Eddie finally replied. "Aeryn, if you're not happy with the way…"

"No, that's not it. Believe me I will be grateful for the rest of my life for what you've done for me. I just don't understand your reluctance to use force."

Aida rose from her chair. "Aeryn, do you remember what John was like when he found himself here?"

I shook my head. "That was different. John was alone. He was completely ignorant of simple things that everyone else took for granted, such as Leviathans, or a hetch drive."

"And John wasn't responsible for hundreds of thousands of people who'd followed him here." Aida said quietly.

"And Knowles is more powerful than we thought. He's been reinforced. " Rudy added. "The first isn't too bad. The Emperor of Cho-Sen is on Jolo. He has a cruiser and about a dozen smaller ships, and another dozen or more human pirate ships followed him. I'm sure he brought his very capable and very extensive secret police and internal security troops with him, and a fair sized infantry division. Tough, fanatical troops, every one of them. We know, we've fought them."

"Knowles is still a lot weaker than you are." I shot back.

"Knowles also has two regiments of Charrid troops on Jolo. Oh, admittedly they're not the ex-Imperial Regiments that have been raising hell since leaving Emperor Staleek's service. These are barbarians from the more backwards Charrid worlds. They were probably shooting at each other with muzzle loading muskets a year ago. Now, someone has organized them and provided modern weapons."

I quickly thought through that. Human Forces Command knew the other human mercenaries well. A fleet in orbit around Jolo could have easily located intelligence showing this human Emperor whoever was there. But how could they have found out about Charrids? And in such detail? Jenavia? She could have gotten the information, but she was too good, and too dedicated, a Disrupter to let the humans have that kind of intelligence without getting something equally valuable in return. Frell! She just hadn't had the time for that kind of negotiations with Rudy.

I took a chance. "You have a spy on Jolo."

Kathleen laughed. "I told you she as good."

Rudy stared at me for a microt, then smiled. "You are good."

"Aeryn, "Kathleen said, "do you remember me saying we took Rudy along so that Knowles' people would have someone to look at?"

"As well they should." Rudy sniffed.

Kathleen smiled. "I have micro comm device implanted in my wrist. It looks just like a neural signal repeater, such as people who've had damaged nerves that they haven't been able to get regenerated use. Works like one, too. But it can also pick up extremely weak electromagnetic pulses at very short range. Say fifty feet, or so."

Kathleen held out her hand and lightly put it on the other wrist. "And when you push on the comm device in just the right way, it sends an encrypted message. Which is exactly what our agent did. That's how we know about the Charrids."

"And the bottom line is, we can't afford to take on Knowles without knowing who's backing him. Christ, Aeryn. You've seen Knowles. He couldn't talk to a platoon of non-humans by himself without starting a war with them."

Eddie nodded. "At first I thought that "Viceroy" Knowles was just more blarney to puff up his ego. But he really is taking orders from someone else."

"The question is who? A Charrid general who's gone renegade? A supposedly loyal Charrid general who's planning to go renegade? Some one in Staleek's own Imperial Court? Many of his courtiers have no love for the peace he brought. Someone in the Peacekeepers, hoping to make the Scarrens look bad?"

"Who ever it is has power, though. You don't just whistle up two Charrid regiments out of nothing."

Aida put her arm around my shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, we have some plans for Knowles, but right now they are long range plans."

Frell. I was tired and unhappy and I missed my family. I especially missed John. I left the O'Donnells and Rudy and went to bed.

The next day, we set out course to the Royal Planet. I passed the time by cornering Chiana and Jool and having them tell me everything about our children they could remember. Also, everything that Rygel was doing to find John. By the time we reached the Royal Planet, I was feeling happier, just knowing the children were safe and I was getting closer to John.

I should have known better. 


	14. Chapter 14

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Fourteen

By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language. Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

How the bloody hell can a planet be closed?" Eddie asked of the hologram in the middle of the CIC aboard _Donegal._

The captain of the _Scipio Africanus_ may have shrugged. Then again, the quality of the holo transmission was poor due to the distance involved. "I don't know, sir. We got here for our regular run and found this being broadcast on a loop,"

The image of the captain was replaced by that of a palace functionary from the Royal Planet. "By order of Her Most Serene Highness, Empress Novia, all communications between our beloved planet and the outside universe is ended."

"Are you picking up anything from the planet that explains this?" Eddie asked.

This time the holo clearly shook his head. "They've limited their comm traffic to short range stuff so folks like us won't eavesdrop, but they don't realize how good our gear is, so we're picking up a lot of complaints from the merchants who've been using our services. Regrettably, the only answer they get from the palace is that the Empress' policy is that there'll be no communications with the rest of the universe, so deal with it."

"No communications ever?" That was Aida.

"I can't say for sure, but it sounds like they intend to be shut in for a long time, ma'am."

Eddie looked around at his staff, assembled there in the CIC. "Any ideas, people? Rudy, this is your area of expertise."

Rudy sadly shook his head. "I have no firm evidence, but…." He stopped in mid-sentence.

"Rudy, quit being dramatic." Kathleen filled the sudden silence. "You're the center of attention now."

"I was merely gathering my thoughts." He replied, and then quickly went on. "The Empress Novia has always felt squeezed between the Peacekeepers and the Scarrens. It has apparently made her tend towards a policy of isolation. However, in the old days, the Peacekeepers and Scarrens tended to cancel each other out. Now, the peace has led to renegade Charrids, renegade Peacekeepers and even unemployed Luxan warlords raiding around her territory. She well could have decided to withdraw inside her defenses and let everyone else go to hell."

"Are her defenses that good?" Eddie directed that question to Admiral de Coucy.

"They are very good, sir. The solar system is ringed with automated orbital defense stations. There are enough of them so that they can swarm any ship or squadron we send in there without weakening their defenses elsewhere. We might be able to punch through with the whole fleet, but I'd hate to try it."

Eddie sat and stared straight ahead, lost in thought. "Rudy, can she cut off her interstellar commerce entirely like that?"

Rudy nodded. "Oh, yes. Even a single solar system has enormous resources. It would certainly cause some short term economic hardship, and in the long term they might lose some technology that they can't duplicate here, but she can keep the Royal Planet closed for as long as she likes."

"Well, that settles it." Eddie said with a slight smile. "We go with Plan B."

After decades of living with a human and having fallen back on Plan B more times than I care to count, I was not surprised to learn that Plan B had yet to be thought up.

In the end, Plan B was provided by Captain Borghese and the Tenth Flotilla, those specialists in zero gee and vacuum combat. It isn't easy to sneak up on a ship or other installation in space, especially one that knows that an enemy is out there. In fact, it's frelling hard. So, the Tenth Flotilla had put a great deal of work into making their assault craft as stealthy as possible. After reviewing intelligence that _Scipio Africanus_ had gathered in her trips to the Royal Planet, and sending their own spy drones in to observe their orbital defenses, Borghese announced it could be done. He suggested sending a small squad onto the Royal Planet to grab John and bring him back.

"Absolutely not!" was my reply to that plan. "It's too dangerous to John and it's dangerous to your men. John won't be taken without a fight."

The revised plan was much better from my point of view. Kathleen and I would be dropped on the outskirts of the city. Being Sebacean and having my knowledge of the Royal Planet, we could blend in, find John and he'd willingly accompany us back.

"Now that is what I call a truly idiotic plan."

I was really starting to hate Jenavian.

"What the frell don't you like about it, Jenavian?"

Jenavian smiled her very superior smile. "Aeryn, you're planning on using your knowledge of the Royal Planet to blend in? Two ex-Peacekeepers with all of the social graces of a starving drannit in a field of ripe pollotzies? It'll take you all of ten microns to call attention to yourself, and the kind of attention you'll draw will lead the Paladins straight to you."

"So, you suggest we just give up?"

"Of course not. The plan is workable if you have a competent leader who has extensive knowledge of the Royal Planet." The smile was extremely superior now.

"No." I shot back. "You haven't been on the Royal Planet for more than twenty cycles and I'm not putting you in charge anyway."

Jenavian shook her head with mock sadness. "As the former fiancé of the late, lamented Prince Clavor, I did leave the Royal Planet soon after your departure, but I have had occasion to return and I have kept up the many friendships I made there."

"Friendships? You're a frelling spy! And that's one more reason we shouldn't take you. Even if we could trust you, which we can't, Empress Novia's Paladins may know who you really are."

Jenavian's smile turned nasty. "So, what kind of a dress would you wear on the Royal Planet, to "blend in"?

"I remember they wear something in white, with a kind of a skirt." That sounded lame even to me.

"White? Aeryn, that is so outdated." Jenavian went on the attack. "What kind of jewelry would you wear? How would you wear your hair? What kind of perfume would you use?"

To my horror, I soon found that both Kathleen and Rudy were agreeing with Jenavian.

"Why the frell do you care about John Crichton anyway?" I shot at her.

"Because every leader in the galaxy has a nightmare that comes on them every now and then. John Crichton gets picked up by their worst enemy and, through some magic, suddenly remembers his lost wormhole knowledge. Then the galaxy blows up. The sooner that I can get John Crichton back aboard Moya puttering uselessly about with his voyages of discovery and raising children, the happier the rest of the Universe will be."

"Well forget it. I absolutely refuse to let you have anything to do with finding John. Not now. Not ever. Never!"

"Are you three ladies all strapped in and ready to go?" The pilot asked.

I glared at Kathleen and refused to look at Jenavian.

Kathleen nodded to the Tenth Flotilla pilot. He gave us what he obviously hoped was a reassuring smile and squeezed his way into the pilot's seat immediately in front of us. The assault lander we were in was tiny, with just enough room for a pilot and four soldiers. In this case, there were only three of us and a large cloth bag carrying our clothing and other supplies.

Rudy had ransacked the fleet for what Jenavian said we needed. In the end, we each had a blue dress. It was skin tight above the waist and very loose below. A slit ran down the front from the neck to almost the waist. Mine had no sleeves, which Jenavian thought made me look very daring, fashion-wise. She and Kathleen had long baggy sleeves.

My hair was now in curls that went out past my shoulders. How the frell could someone wear their hair like this? It seemed it would catch on anything.

I had spent several arns learning to put on the make up now in vogue on the Royal Planet. My eyelids were covered with black makeup edged in gold, my lips an odd shade of pink. My finger and toe nails had been painted silver. The shoes were…idiotic. Very uncomfortable and very flimsy.

I felt the transport start to move. I craned my head around, but I couldn't see a frelling thing. Well, if we couldn't sneak past the orbital defenses, I'd probably never realize I'd failed John.

After an arn, the pilot called back to us. "We're entering their detection range. If nothing happens to us in the next minute and a half, we should be okay."

That was reassuring. We _should_ be okay?

I had no timekeeping device, so I took my pulse. When it got to one hundred heart beats, I started to relax. The next two arns were just boring. Just like being back in the Peacekeepers and getting ready to assault a planet.

"Okay, ladies. We're here."

Finally.

The pilot popped the hatch and we stepped out into the night. The pilot had landed us at the very edge of the badlands around the city. We were so close, I could see the lights of the palace in the distance.

Kathleen tore open our bag and removed our clothing. We quickly stripped off the coveralls we'd worn for the trip down and dressed in our Royal Planet clothing. We were dressed in a matter of microns and threw the bag back in the transport. The pilot lifted off, headed for a stretch of ocean a few metras away. He'd land on the ocean bottom off shore and wait for our signal.

A short walk took us to a large structure that Jenavia said was owned by one of her friends. Once I was inside, it was like I had gone back in time. All of the people were dancing and exchanging kisses to see if they were genetically compatible. Did any of these people ever do anything useful with their lives?

Jenavian pushed her way to the bar and asked for the whereabouts of Frink, her friend. The bartender didn't even need to reply.

"Jenavian!" boomed a voice. "Where have you been?" He said, giving her a hug.

Frink was dressed all in blue, but lacked the makeup. He was tall and thin, but like most local men, appeared to be in good shape.

"I was in the far south with Lord Kallens. Oh, Frink! We had such a delightful time. But I couldn't leave without seeing you." Jenavian smoothly lied.

Jenavian told Frink that she had been back on the Royal Planet for over a cycle, but had been staying with friends in the southern hemisphere of the planet. Kathleen was casually introduced as Ulla and I was Nim. As Jenavian spun out her tales of our "adventures", men kept bothering me with their silly vials, looking for a kiss. After I sent the third one packing, Frink spoke up.

"That may work in the southern latitudes, Nim, but around here, it just encourages them. Now you've become a challenge."

I looked around the room. Sure enough, a number of groups of men were eyeing me speculatively. I had had enough of this nonsense the first time I had been here, and was only interested in one man's genetic compatibility anyway.

I smiled at the room, grabbed a vial and put some of the liquid on my tongue. Then I grabbed Jenavian and kissed her.

Frell! It was sweet! How in the frell could that happen!

"It's sweet!" Jenavian crowed. "Why, Nim, we are compatible. That's so very sweet of you, you naughty little girl, you. You know, modern medicine makes many things possible now. We should see that Diagnosian over on Plenkar when we leave here."

That did get rid of the men, but now I was being stared at by a group of women at the end of the room.

"I don't know how you'll get out of here, Jenavian." Frink said. "The Empress Novia has ended all communications with other planets."

Frink, as it turned out, didn't know any more than we did about why Empress Novia had decided to cut the Royal Planet off from the rest of the galaxy. He did, however, have a small place just down the road where Jenavian and the two of us could stay.

A small place? Well, it was small if you were trying to billet a company of Peacekeepers, I suppose. But the bed was comfortable and I was able to get a good night's sleep.

Just as well, since things started going to hezmana the next day.

"What do you mean, Mr. Tollero isn't here?" Jenavian snapped at the attractive, if dim, woman sitting in the front of offices of Tollero Enterprises. This Tollero was apparently Jenavian's contact here on the Royal Planet. I assumed that meant he was a Disrupter as well, although Jenavian had gone to some lengths to suggest he was just a close friend and business associate,

"He's not here." The woman repeated slowly to Jenavian. "He left. He didn't tell me where he is. He didn't say when he'd be back." Her duty done, she went back to polishing the large and gaudy bracelet she was wearing.

I wondered idly if slamming her head against her desk might help her memory. I decided against it. That wasn't the way things worked on the Royal Planet.

Jenavian promised to report her unhelpful attitude to Mr. Tollero and then stormed out. Kathleen and I followed in her wake.

We found Jenavian standing in front of a large, ornamental fountain. In the center of the fountain was a statue of a young woman with water shooting from her hair. The Goddess only knows what that was meant to represent.

"That bastard Tollero may have gotten word that the Empress was about to close the planet down and decided to get himself off planet." Jenavia snarled under her breath.

"I thought Disrupters were better disciplined than that." I said quietly.

Jenavian didn't bite. "He's a merchant, dear Nim, and like his kind, he looks out for himself first."

After a brief discussion, we decided our best bet was to try the palace. As the former fiancé of the late, unlamented Prince Clavor, Jenavian was tolerated by the Imperial Family and the palace staff, even if Prince Clavor himself had been widely despised by everyone except for the Empress, and I must admit, Princess Katralla, who seemed to have allowed the fact that they were related to have clouded her judgment of the power mad prince.

We set off at once and in no time at all were entering the outer precincts of the palace. That is when disaster struck.

"Aeryn Sun! I haven't seen you for years!" Boomed a voice, "and Jenavian Chatto, too!"

I stopped, stunned and stared at him. Dregon Carzenonva stood there smiling and walking towards me. First he makes me fall off a mountain and now this!

"Aeryn Sun?" growled a voice from behind me. "Aeryn Sun has been proscribed from ever entering the Empress' domains! Stand where you are!"

I turned and smiled widely at the Paladin. "I'm sorry, this gentleman is confused. My name is…" In mid-sentence I kicked at his mivonks and sent him down. Too frelling late! When I stepped forward to take his weapon, three more Paladins came forward to cover us with their weapons. In microns, there were at least a dozen surrounding us.

In spite of Jenavian's and Kathleen's protestations that they didn't know me, we were all hustled away. A brief DNA scan established that I was the same Aeryn Sun who had landed on the Royal Planet more than twenty cycles ago and had been forbidden to ever return. The scan also established that neither Jenavian nor Kathleen had landed on the planet legally. In no time at all, we were in a dungeon, deep within the cellars of the palace.

"Just once could you think, instead of acting like a brainless Peacekeeper?" Jenavian snapped at me.

"If you've noticed, Disrupter, my career since leaving the Peacekeepers has been quite un-Peacekeeper-like. And since when have the Empress' Paladins been susceptible to reasonable arguments? The last time I was here, they were salivating at the chance to execute everyone from off-planet!"

I suppose it would have gotten much worse if one of the jailers hadn't yelled at us from outside. "Silence! Princess Katralla and Prince Consort John are coming to see you. If you hope to keep your lives, behave!"

I stopped. Thank the gods, whoever they were. I had found John. The door swung open.

I micron later I was cursing those gods.

"You're Counselor Tyno!"

"Silence!" snapped Katralla. She stepped closer to me. "When John Crichton left, my lover Tyno took his name and his place beside me. Few knew John Crichton by sight and those who did would never betray the secret. Didn't John tell you of this?"

I glared at Jenavian. "No, we had other things to consider in the aftermath of escaping from here."

"No matter. You know now. Tyno and I were returned to our normal form many years earlier than originally planned because my mother has been ill. In a few microts, guards will come to bring you three to see her. Try not to antagonize her and we'll try to save your lives. Now we must go."

With that, Katralla and Tyno turned and left.

Sure enough, they were no sooner out of sight than I heard the tramp of booted feet approaching. The Empress' Paladins had arrived to escort us to the throne room.

The normally busy throne room was almost deserted when we got there. Novia was sitting in a simple chair on a raised dais, with Katralla and Tyno to her left. To her right was a tall, elderly looking man who looked like he wished he were elsewhere.

Empress Novia looked dreadful. She had lost a great deal of weight, and I could see that the skin on her face was pulled tight over the bones. Her hair was thin and hung lifelessly around her face. Most of her was covered with a white robe, but I could see her hands were shaking slightly.

"Aeryn Sun! You were banished from my dominions. How dare you come back?" Her voice was low and she sounded tired.

"Your Majesty. " I began, "I have been seeking my husband, John Crichton. He was.."

"John Crichton is married to my daughter!" She snapped at me.

Princess Katralla leaned over to her mother. "Empress, there are two John Crichtons, don't you remember? One is married to me. The other is married to this lady."

Novia looked confused, then shook her head, as if clearing it. "Yes. That other one came here with that abominable Scorpius. What a dreadful man he was. That's why I had the whole crew of Moya banished from my realm. Dangerous. Dangerous, all of them."

"My husband, my John Crichton, brought peace between the Peacekeepers and the Scarrens, Empress."

Novia's had snapped around to look at me. "Peace! Peace? What peace? We've had nothing of any peace in the last ten cycles. Renegade Charrids have attacked our commerce, not to mention so-called Peacekeepers and even those filthy Luxans. That's why I won't allow any more ships to leave the Royal Planet. I solved the problem. I did. I did."

I was trying to think of some way to get through to Novia who was obviously mentally impaired. Suddenly, she focused on Jenavian.

"Jenavian! Why did you leave? Clavor was so in love with you. He was a bit headstrong, but young men are like that. If you had only stayed, he would have been a good ruler. Why did you desert us?" The last sentence ended in a sob.

Jenavian smiled, as best she could. "Your Majesty, Clavor died. I did remain for a while, but the sight of so many places and people that I had known with my dearest Clavor soon became intolerable. I had to leave. But you know I have returned when I could."

"Clavor is dead." Novia stared at Katralla who nodded.

"Yes, Clavor is dead!" Novia suddenly yelled out. "I remember. It was a conspiracy. The Scarrens and the Peacekeepers all wanted my realm. This so-called peace agreement is just a trick to get us to lower our defenses. But I've been too clever for them. They'll never defeat us. They'll never penetrate our defenses."

Suddenly she stopped and stared at the three of us. "You have penetrated our defenses. You must not be allowed to return with the secrets of our defenses." Novia looked wildly around. "Captain Taiho! Captain Taiho!"

An officer in the uniform of the Empress' Paladins stepped into the throne room. "Your Majesty?"

"Execute these three. At once. Now!" Novia stormed.

"Mother, please. There is no reason to execute these people. One of whom would be your daughter if Clavor had lived."

"You dare defy me!" Novia raged.

"Your Majesty?" Captain Taiho said quietly.

"What?" Novia barked at him.

"It is customary to execute traitors publicly, to show your loving subjects the lengths to which you will go to preserve their safety."

Novia nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes. A public execution. The very thing. Do it now, Taiho. I knew I could count on you."

Captain Taiho bowed. "But the streets are almost empty and your loyal subjects are at home, thanking Your Majesty for protecting them. And there hasn't been time to alert the news media." Taiho said soothingly. "Your Majesty's justice should be seen to be done, so that your beloved subjects can appreciate how hard you work for them."

Novia seemed to be very tired all of a sudden. "Yes, yes. I knew I could count on you, Taiho. There are so few left anymore that are loyal. You handle the details. You have my complete trust."

With that, we were lead back to our cell. We had no sooner returned to our cell than Captain Taiho arrived with our dinner. The food looked to be too good to waste on prisoners who were to be executed soon, so I felt slightly better. Taiho, however, refused to tell us anything. The reason for his reticence was soon apparent. Princess Katralla and Tyno arrived.

Katralla wasted no time. "My mother is not well, but she is still the Empress. She can be distracted for a while, but she views you three as a threat and she will not tolerate a threat to the Empire."

Tyno took over. "You need to tell us why you are here. Tell us everything."

And so we did. I started with the details of my kidnapping and Kathleen continued with the history of Human Forces Command. Jemavian confirmed the size and power of the human force we had left on the other side of their defenses.

"I'm not sure you're not a threat to the Empire." Captain Taiho remarked when we were done.

"If you want to see a threat to the Empire like you've never imagined, allow Empress Novia to execute us." Kathleen said sharply. "My father is not a forgiving man where family is concerned."

"We do not appreciate being threatened." Katralla said coldly.

Jenavian smiled. "Then don't think of it as a threat. Think of it as an analysis of how this planet will be destroyed."

"Your fleet would have to get through our orbital system defenses," Taiho said with a slight smile. "I don't think we have to worry."

Katralla and Tyno left to try to reason with the Empress, and I presume Taiho went off to plan our executions. We decided to get a good night's sleep. If we had to, we'd try to make a break for it when the Paladins came for us in the morning.

The Paladins arrived long before morning.

"Wake up! Wake up!" That was Taiho. "The Empress demands your presence in the throne room. Who the frell are you people?"

I remained on my bed, not moving. If I could get a Paladin to come close enough, I could disarm him. Kathleen did likewise. Jenavian pushed herself up on one elbow and smiled at Captain Taiho.

"Are you perhaps finding out that we're not people you can threaten with death and just laugh about it, Captain?" She asked nastily.

Taiho nodded. "A huge warship has entered our solar system. It simply sailed right past our defenses. None of our orbital defenses did a frelling thing. And now we can't even establish contact with the satellites. They've ignored every command we've sent to them."

"It does sound like you have a problem." Kathleen was unable to suppress a laugh. "Much like I told you you'd have. Let me know how things work out." Kathleen turned over and pulled her blanket over her.

"The Empress demands your presence in the throne room at once!" Taiho said, obviously trying to keep from losing his temper.

"Demands can be difficult." Jenavian replied haughtily.

"Your commander has also requested that you be present in the throne room so that he can be sure that you are alive and well."

Kathleen rolled over and rolled out of bed. "Marshall O'Donnell gave us orders? Well, why didn't you say so? Up and at 'em, girls. Time's a-wasting."

The throne room was more crowded this time. In addition to Novia, Katralla and Tyno, there were officers of the Paladins and Novia's Counselors, all talking among themselves and all having no clue how to solve their problem. In the center of the room was a large holo transmission of Eddie.

"And I assure you, Empress Novia, that if my officers are not returned to me, I shall hunt down and kill all who…" Eddie stopped and turned to look at us. It was a two way holo, then. "Ah, I see they have been brought out. Everyone all right?"

Kathleen nodded. "No harm has been done to us, sir."

Eddie smiled and nodded. "Excellent, excellent. Now, I'll be sending a landing craft down to pick them up. There's a large space in front of your palace that…."

"You dare give me orders?" Novia screamed. "I command here. And I have commanded that these three be executed. How dare you presume to give me…"

"Mother!" Katralla interrupted. "Can't you see…"

"I see that as long as I have them, I am in control."

"Not really." That was Eddie. "Your orbital defenses are under our full control. When _Scipio Africanus_ came here, they were very careful to record the computer codes you used to let your own ships get past your defenses. It was no great trick to use them against you. And, we also used nanobots to re-program your defense satellites. Your satellites were programmed to ignore things the size of a grain of sand, but you'd be surprised at what you can do with enough of such tiny machines. Ah, excuse me, you are surprised already, are you not? You really should inspect your weapons more closely and not rely on what your ground based computers tell you."

"And, Empress, we're well aware that even as we speak, your soldiers are trying to regain control of your orbital defenses. However, that will not work, I assure you."

"As for your spacecraft, you have a limited number of so-called warships to call on. They are, however, used for rescue and police work mostly. All together they are absolutely no threat to me."

"And your Regiment of Paladins is slightly less that two thousand strong and is equipped with nothing more powerful than rifles. Again, they are no threat."

Captain Taiho bowed to Novia. "Our lives are yours, Your Highness."

"Yes, Mother!" Katralla said acidly. "Getting your Paladins slaughtered would be a fine end to this fiasco."

"I will not put my Empire in jeopardy!" Novia screamed, shooting to her feet. "I have fought for years to keep out the Scarrens and the Peacekeepers and the Charrids and…"

"And now you have a powerful warship inside our defenses. You have no options, Mother."

The fight went out of Novia. She sagged and sat down heavily. Katralla moved over to stand beside her, taking her hand.

"My mother agrees to your proposal, Marshall O'Donnell. I suggest your transport land in front of the palace so as to minimize your soldier's time on this planet."

Eddie smiled and bowed graciously. "A most wise decision, Empress Novia. And I will not be sending soldiers down. A Mr. Vergraah will come by to pick up my officers."

It took a few microns for a transport from _Donegal_ to land. Rudy walked down the ramp and strolled into the palace, looking like he like a casual visitor, just dropping by to say hello. He even stopped to smell a flower growing in a large pot at the entrance to the throne room.

"Hello!" He said cheerfully. "I'm Rudyard Kipling Vergraah. Thank you ever so much for returning our little lost sheep to us. Their coming here was a dreadful mistake on our part, of course. So sorry."

Rudy was trying hard to turn a near war into a minor mix-up. Novia simply stared past him and the rest of her court glared at him.

Rudy turned to us. "Ah, ready to go? Excellent! Excellent!" Then he turned back to Katralla. "Marshall O'Donnell has asked me to speak to you about your defenses. I'm afraid you've been living on their exaggerated reputation. We really don't find your defenses to be all that intimidating. And it's not just because we have superior military technology. We're quite sure your less peaceful neighbors could breach your defenses if they gave it a bit of thought. We'd be quite willing to leave a task force here to look after you, for a fee, of course. Also provide a training and equipment team to see about upgrading your defenses to some more modern orbital missile batteries and system defense boats, which we can also sell you. Then we could see about your ground forces…"

"No!" Katralla said forcefully. "Please just leave our planet, now."

Rudy bowed and we all headed for the door. Rudy seemingly had to have the last word. He stopped by the flowers he had admired on his way in. "Would you mind at all if I took a cutting? Really a lovely flower. We have a garden you know."

Katralla stared at him for a micron. "Take the whole frelling pot, if you please. Just leave."

Rudy took a small cutting and we walked out to the transport.

We were in orbit and in sight of _Donegal_ when Kathleen said what we had all been thinking. "Whose brilliant idea was it to send us through the orbital defenses in that tin can when you could have shut down the frelling defenses?"

Rudy laughed. "When we could have shut down the defenses, Kathleen? We did shut them down. We added another electronic warfare pod to your lander just for that purpose. Couldn't tell the crew of course. And you were followed by one of Borghese's destroyers in full stealth mode with their full EW suite running. We confirmed the satellites weren't functional well before you got in range. You were never in any real danger."

"That's more than I can say for you, Rudy." Kathleen muttered under her breath.

In a few more microts we were back aboard and I was more depressed than I had been for weekens. My only lead to John had turned out to be a dead end. Where was he? How would I find him?

I was headed for the CIC with Rudy, Kathleen and Jenavian for debriefing. We were almost to the hatchway when the alarm bells began to ring.

"Ships dropping out of FTL at the edge of the system. Footprint indicates they're big." 


	15. Chapter 15

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Fifteen

By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language. Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

Eddie and Aida looked into the holo of the Royal Planet's solar system in the center of the CIC. We squeezed into seats behind them.

"Return the defense satellites to full operation." Aida said. "This couldn't be a friendly visit. Our luck hasn't been that good."

"More ships, sir." One of the officers said. "One, two, three….no, four groups, all outside the system defenses. The last ships are smaller than the first group."

"Any ideas as to what or who they are?" Aida asked.

There was a buzz of conversation in the CIC as the officers compared notes. Finally one spoke. "They're almost certainly warships, sir. The first group are ships about our size with smaller escorts." There was a pause of a few microns. "We make them at five battleships plus six destroyer sized escorts. And a possible cruiser. The other four groups seem to be armored cruiser or cruiser sized ships, four or five ships per group."

"Any ideas about who they are, or what they intend to do?" Eddie asked. "I assume they're hostiles, but can we make anything of them other than that?"

There was more discussion among the officers in the CIC. Then someone spoke. "Directed energy weapon signatures, sir! It seems to be coming from only the four groups of smaller ships. The battleships and their escorts are still lying doggo, sir."

Suddenly Admiral de Coucy spoke. "I think I know what they're up to. Check their EW emissions."

There was a brief flurry of activity, then an officer smiled and nodded. "You're right, sir. The four smaller groups are using their electronic warfare suites to make the defense satellites think they're being attacked by four very powerful task forces, much bigger than the five battleships they actually are facing." He stopped for a microt and checked his computer screen. "They're using EW drones as well, sir. Lots of them."

Eddie stroked his lower lip. "So, when the defense satellites are convinced they're about to be over-run by the four phony task forces, the real raiding force will punch through the defenses and hit the Royal Planet."

There were nods all around.

"De Coucy, can we tell the satellites to ignore the decoys and worry only about the real threat?"

De Coucy leaned over a computer console and had a brief conversation with a couple of his officers. "No sir. We can't punch through the enemy EW at this distance and even if we could, I don't think the satellite's programming is sophisticated enough to ignore what it sees as a definite threat."

Aida craned her head around to get a look at one of the CIC holo repeaters. "We can detect them. Why haven't they spotted our fleet?"

Another officer stood so that he could be seen over his monitor. "Ma'am, it looks to me that they're putting out so much EW that they have to focus their own sensors on the defense satellites immediately in front of them to pick up anything. They've essentially blinded themselves to anything other than the planet's defenses."

Eddie and Aida exchanged glances and then smiles.

"Well, then," Eddie said, still smiling, "I suggest we show them what this planet's defenses are really like. Admiral de Coucy, move us towards their battleships, if you please. We'll call them Group Alpha. And please have _Erin_ and her escorts join us at their best speed."

He looked at the holographic projection of the Royal Planet's solar system in the middle of the CIC and then continued. "I should think that Task Force Two is best positioned to deal with the other four groups, Groups Bravo, Charlie, Delta and Echo. My compliments to Admiral McCain and ask him to divide his Task Force into four Task Groups to take those bastards on."

We headed straight for the five battleships for nearly a half an arn.

"Group Alpha has opened fire on the satellites!"

Everyone's attention immediately focused on the CIC holo showing the area of space ahead of us.

"Group Alpha is moving." An officer called out.

Up ahead I could see the defense satellites firing and the return fire from the raiders. Then they had punched through the satellites' perimeter, even as the satellites swarmed around them firing madly.

At least some of them had. The destroyer sized ships had been shot to pieces and the cruiser was dead in space, nearly cut in half. Of the five battleships, two appeared to have taken minimal damage and were headed straight for us and the Royal Planet. The other three had been hit hard. One was just barely moving and showed heavy damage near the engines. The other two weren't moving at all, but the damage to them wasn't concentrated in one area. Their crews would have them under way if we didn't prevent them.

"Ships ID'ed, sir. Scarrens. The ships headed for us are Scarren dreadnaughts,"

Someone else spoke up. "The lead dreadnaught is broadcasting. He's got a message on a loop. I'm putting it up."

A Charrid face appeared in the CIC holo. "I am Admiral Pohtalken of the Charrid Empire and I have come to eat your children."

"Cheerful bastard." Eddie remarked. "I think we can give him a meal he hadn't expected." He turned to me. "Aeryn, our intel says Scarren capital ships are like PK ships, and depend on directed energy weapons like frag cannons. Correct?"

I nodded. "Exactly. But Scarrens depend more on overwhelming power than Peacekeepers ships do. So their frag cannons are more powerful, but they have a shorter range. Less than the forty thousand metras of similar Peacekeeper weapons."

Eddie examined the holo showing our enemies for a few microns. "Good enough. We'll go right between them. Port side missiles fire at the portside target and vice versa for the starboard. We should get at least two broadsides into them, maybe three."

"Enemy ships are launching attack craft, sir."

The holo showed fighters swarming out of the two ships heading for us, and also out of the three damaged ships far behind them.

"We don't know much about their attack craft, Aeryn. Can you give us anything on them?" Kathleen asked.

"Bigger, tougher and slower that a Prowler, and they have a crew of two, a pilot and a gunner. They use one heavy duty cannon with a maximum of six shots. And they have to get in close to use it."

"They aren't waiting to hit us in one wave." One of the CIC officers noted. "The fighters from the first two ships will get here a good fifteen minutes before the rest get here." He leaned over and checked something on the computer monitor beside his. "And the three damaged ships are launching fewer fighters. They must have taken a lot of casualties."

There was another buzz of conversation between the CIC officers and then he continued. "The two nearer targets have launched about two hundred and twenty fighters between them. The last three have launched fewer. I make it one hundred and ninety."

Human warships are designed to defend themselves against missiles that are smaller, faster and more maneuverable than Charrid fighters. As the fighters began their attack runs, _Donegal's_ defenses opened up. First her secondary batteries, then anti-missile missiles and finally close-in directed energy weapons. The first wave of fighters was shredded. Normal tactics for the Charrid renegades would be to concentrate their fighters on one part of an enemy ship. But, between having their formations shot to pieces before they could close, and the human tactic of constantly rolling _Donegal_ to keep an undamaged side towards the enemy, the tactic failed.

Not that we didn't take some damage. But we were losing external comm and sensor arrays, directed energy mounts, escape pods, re-supply gantries and the like. All of these, while important, were too numerous and too redundant to be totally destroyed by the enemy fighters available. In addition, our main missile batteries, engines and sensors remained undamaged under our armor.

Not that we didn't get some scares.

"What the frell was that?" I yelled as I was nearly tossed out of my chair.

"One of them went kamikaze, sir. Right between Main Missile Fifteen and Sixteen." Someone called out. "Damage control is sending a drone out to look around. We're trying to reestablish contact with that section now."

We all waited for microts while the CIC crew tried to find out what had happened.

"DC, say again?"

One of the CIC officers stood up. "Sir, DC Party Two Two reports we need a new paint job on the armor. Anti-missile Four Four and Four Five, and their associated sensors should have been shredded. They didn't get hit. Not so much as a stinking scratch."

"How'd we lose the comms to that section?" Aida shot back.

The officer laughed. "One of the skivvy wavers was…"

"Say again, Lieutenant Brod. Properly." Aida cut him off.

"Sorry, Ma'am." The lieutenant said, still smiling. "A communications technician was checking a junction box. When we got hit, he was knocked down. He grabbed a comm line and as he fell he pulled it lose. That caused the comm loss."

A nervous laugh ran around the CIC.

Eddie laughed and shook his head. "I'll be more than happy with a battle where our biggest scare comes from something we did."

"What's left of the first wave seems to be breaking off, sir." That was Lieutenant Brod. "It looks like they're planning to join up with the second group of fighters."

"How long until they arrive?" Aida asked.

"Twenty plus minutes, ma'am." was the reply. "I think they launched damaged fighters that can't hit their normal cruising speed. But the second wave will be about the same size as the first. And they've seen us now. They'll know what to expect."

The Charrids knew what to expect, but not how to defeat the human warship. Their attack ended with a few more human dead and wounded, a bit more damage to _Donegal_ , and no more Charrid fighters.

The two renegade Charrid dreadnaughts were still headed straight for us. And for the Royal Planet behind us.

"Incoming comm, sir."

"From who?" Eddie asked.

"The Charrid admiral, sir. Admiral Pohtalken."

Eddie looked around the CIC and then shrugged. "Put him on. See what he has to say."

Pohtalken's face appeared in the CIC holo. "Very good, for a Sebacean. I shall gain great power by eating your children." The message ended with a shriek of laughter from Pohtalken.

"Any reply, sir?"

Eddie smiled grimly. "Oh, definitely. In about another four minutes."

The battle between _Donegal_ and the two Charrid dreadnaughts was fast, one sided, destructive, but initially disappointing.

 _Donegal_ launched her first salvo of 120 missiles from well outside the range of the dreadnaughts' cannons. As usual, some twenty percent of the missiles were what the humans called "penaids", or penetration aids. Missiles whose job was to jam enemy sensors so they couldn't see the missiles headed for them, or missiles that spoofed the enemy, making them think that there were hundreds of missiles where in fact there were none.

The dreadnaughts' defenses were designed to knock down Prowlers and not faster, smaller missiles, but the defensive missiles and guns were still numerous and effective. And all Scarren built ships were very well armored. Half of the first salvo found a target, although fewer missiles hit Pohtalken's flagship. Nearly two thirds of the second salvo found their targets, and the other dreadnaught was badly damaged, slowing to about three quarters speed. The third and last salvo was fired as _Donegal_ was slightly past the two dreadnaughts. Since the missiles had to chase their targets, the Charrid gunners had more time to engage our missiles. Less than a quarter of the missiles hit their targets. This time Pohtalken's flagship took most of the hits.

Once more, Pohtalken's face appeared in the CIC holo. "Very good, Sebacean. I am most impressed. Had I had only one vessel, you would surely eat my children. But you are now going directly away from us at maximum speed. I will have several arns in which to explore the many bloody delights that now await me on your planet." The comm ended.

Eddie laughed. "Well, he will find some bloody delights there. Now, let's get to the three cripples still ahead of us and make sure they cause no harm."

I stood up to protest leaving the Royal Planet defenseless, but stopped before saying a word.

"Yes, Aeryn?" Aida asked.

I stood there thinking for a microt. "He's headed into an ambush, isn't he?"

A laugh ran around the CIC.

"You are so right, my dear." Eddie said to Aida. "She is very good."

Eddie changed the holo to show a schematic of the Royal Planet's solar system. "Due to the need for diplomatic niceties, I only took _Donegal_ through their defenses to pay my little call on Empress Novia. But just in case I had to fight to get you three back, I had two Task Forces sneak past when Empress Novia's lads were distracted. Now I have about a quarter of my fleet behind the Royal Planet where Admiral Pohtalken can't see them until it's too late." Eddie examined the schematic for a microt. "What do you think, de Coucy? I'd say Pohtalken will get ambushed about an hour before we get to the outer solar system where the three cripples are."

De Coucy agreed and he was right. As soon as the Charrids were too close to the Royal Planet to abort their planned attack, the humans moved out from behind the planet. I was told later that not all of the human ships were able to fire on the two dreadnaughts. Some were still behind the planet and some to the rear of the formation were blocked by ships in front of them. In any case more than a thousand missiles were fired at the two ships which were blanketed in nuclear explosions. Amazingly, the explosions from the breached fusion bottles on the two ships passed nearly unnoticed.

It was overkill. But, as Rudy said, that was the point. Very few people had ever seen two Scarren built dreadnaughts completely vaporized at close range over their own planet. It did give the inhabitants of the Royal Planet something to consider.

" _Erin_ and her escorts coming up from astern." Someone announced.

The tactical display holo disappeared and was replaced by the face of a human officer. "Sorry we didn't get here in time to take some shots at that bastard, sir."

Eddie shook his head. "Not to worry, Tom. I didn't expect that you'd make it and we had everything under control as it turned out. I appreciate your sentiments, though."

Eddie glanced down at one of the computer screens. "Ah, I see you have _Shannon_ with you. How do you like commanding an armored cruiser, David? And I do apologize for not congratulating you personally on your promotion."

A second human face appeared in the upper quadrant of the holo. "I couldn't be happier with _Shannon_ , sir. An armored cruiser is the best ship anyone can command. No apology is needed, sir."

The CIC crew laughed along with Eddie.

"Well, youngster, you may feel differently when you command a battleship." Eddie's face became serious. "Well then, gentlemen, we have some cripples to dispatch. I don't want anything fancy, we'll just take them one at a time starting with the one that's still managing to move. When we get in range, we'll just fire half a stonk at each one. That should do it."

Eddie brought the tactical display back up on the CIC holo. "As you can see, we have some wrecked destroyers and a cruiser about. It's unlikely that any crew survived, or that any of them could ever be repaired. But, just to be sure, we'll put a missile in each one as we go by."

"There is one exception, though." Eddie used an electronic marker to outline what appeared to be about half of a destroyer. "This one is missing her entire engine room and those stubs you see are what's left of her armament and sensor pylons. Tom, I'd like you to detach a cruiser to board that one. We'll send you the engineering schematics our intel people have come up with, and we'd like you to cut through her hull and pull her main computer memory core out. If you find anyone alive in there, prisoners to interrogate would be nice. But don't take any chances. When you're done, blow her up."

The humans set to work. None of the three dreadnaughts were able to fire on us and their defensive fire was almost non-existent. They, and what was left of the other ships, were soon reduced to a random collection of radioactive atoms.

The cruiser got the computer memory and even a wounded prisoner. The prisoner was of low rank and had nothing useful to tell us. Later I heard that at the request of the Royal Planet, he was turned over to them. I never heard what happened to him, but no doubt it was very long and very painful.

 _Donegal_ and the other ships returned to the Royal Planet and went into orbit along with the two other Task Forces already there. The humans opened up the defensive perimeter again and brought in the rest of their fleet, including the Task Forces that had originally been left outside the defensive perimeter. I doubt if anyone on the Royal Planet had ever seen so many ships in one place before. There were not just the warships in Eddie's combat fleet, but the transports and planetary assault ships carrying his ground forces, not to mention their fire support ships, mostly obsolete battleships and cruisers, and their numerous destroyer and smaller sized escorts.

Also present was the fleet train. Ships carrying all of the supplies that the fleet and army would need as well as repair ships and even factory ships that could build anything the humans needed, up to missile frigates. They, of course, also had numerous escorts.

Aside from scouts prowling outside the Royal Planet's perimeter defenses and a few ships out checking nearby solar systems, the whole fleet was now crammed into orbit around Empress Novia's world.

That's when Eddie decided to comm the Empress again.

"Good day to you, Princess Katralla. And may I speak to your mother, the Empress, please?"

Katralla was standing in the throne room beside her mother's chair. "My mother is ill and has retired to her quarters under the supervision of a Diagnosan. If you have a message, I can forward it to her." She said coldly.

I suppose that everyone realized that was a lie. Katralla was now in charge and Novia was a figurehead.

Eddy nodded sadly. "Please convey my respects to Her Majesty and my hopes that she recovers soon."

Katralla nodded briskly. "Thank you. If that is all you have to say, I have duties to attend to."

"Your Highness, I would really like to suggest that you reconsider my previous proposal to provide you with some ships to back up your defense satellites. We can also upgrade your satellites, although they'll never be as good as more modern weaponry. We can also sell you modern orbital defenses, complete with missiles, sensors, and a training team. You should also consider buying some system defense boats and in the long run, acquiring your own fleet."

Katralla was instantly suspicious. I believe that she had thought that her planet was about to get the same kind of treatment that the Charrids would have given them. Her eyes narrowed and she stared at Eddie for a good micron before she replied.

"And why would you do this when you could take anything you want from our world?"

"Because it's my business, Your Highness. You know, "Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf"?" Eddie stopped and scratched his head for a micron. "Well, no, you may not have heard that one. But I'm the leader of the rough men around here and we do need to be paid for doing violence, you know. We'll call the destruction of the Charrid raiders a free demonstration. Oh, by the by, I think we got all of the ships that were outside of your defenses, pretending to be a great horde of raiders, but I could be wrong. Other Charrids may know your defenses can be penetrated."

"As for why I don't simply take what I want? Well, I have no wish to burden you with a long lecture on recent human history, but I have noticed that those rough men who only take and provide nothing in return tend to get fat, sloppy and lazy. They often die at the hands of those once peaceable people they take from."

Katralla was by no means convinced. "And how are we to pay for your large and expensive fleet?"

That was Rudy's cue. He stepped forward so he could be seen by the holo camera. "To begin with, you won't need our entire fleet. I doubt that even one full Task Force would be needed. Possibly a half of one, but it could be no more than a third."

"As far as payment goes, we found through our contacts with your merchants who used _Scipio Africanus_ that you had quite a thriving interstellar trade until a couple of generations ago. It wasn't until the Scarrens and the Peacekeepers started putting pressure on you that a policy of isolationism began to take hold. The products of the Royal Planet are in great demand in the outside galaxy. I've taken the liberty of putting together a few numbers that might interest you. Would you like to call in your economic advisers?"

And so the negotiations began. Princess Katralla was, naturally, suspicious. She insisted on having her own people inspect every ship and sometimes she did the inspections herself. Unfortunately for her, few of her people had much of a grasp of any type of military technology, much less the very unfamiliar human technology. She also hated to have to depend on mercenaries who she viewed as driven by greed and not more pure motives. Eventually she had to concede that if Human Forces Command was only looking to take the money and run, as John might have said, they could easily do just that. And, there was no other defense available against any second group of raiders.

The negotiations dragged on for nearly three weekens. During that time, Kathleen, Aida, Eddie and Rudy were often busy and I rarely saw them.

Jenavian, I found, had returned to the Royal Planet. Whether in her capacity as a Disrupter, an agent for the humans, or both, or neither, I never discovered. Nor did I care.

I spent time with Chiana and Jool. I eventually wrote another letter to my children, trying to remain bright and upbeat, without telling them anything about where I was or what I was doing in case the information should accidentally fall onto the hands of anyone still chasing John.

By Cholak! Where was John?

I found that many large human ships had hydroponics gardens. There was one on _Donegal_ and I often went there, trying to think of some way to find my husband.

At the other end of the garden, I saw a familiar looking couple. As they got closer, I saw their grey hair. It was Gunner Ismaili and Lieutenant Redd. Redd looked younger, fitter and happier than she had when I had first seen her. Whether it was because she was getting frelled regularly, or because her wounds had healed or what I couldn't tell. But, as they walked down another aisle in the garden, I did hope that it was because she had found someone in this universe who made her want to be more.

I decided to go see if any of the O'Donnells or Rudy was available. Perhaps we could come up with an idea to help me find John.

The O'Donnells were having a meal the humans called "brunch". I was invited to join them and was just looking at something a fruit cocktail when Rudy arrived.

"A courier is just in from Arsenal. According to the pilot, he's only a few days ahead of a good sized force that Admiral Cunningham assembled and sent on to us. I took the liberty of having the more routine messages printed." Rudy handed Eddy a data flimsy. "These are the ships and units we're getting."

Eddie ran his finger down the list. "Bloody good. It looks like we'll leave the Royal Planet stronger than when we arrived, in spite of leaving ships here. How's Cunningham doing?"

Rudy smiled. "We really should make him the planetary governor. Industrial production is ahead of schedule. Food stocks exceed what we hoped for. Ships are moving through the yards at a remarkable clip, and new ground units are being raised, equipped and trained rapidly. And, when we get back to Arsenal, we probably won't be able to see the planet for all the orbital forts and SDBs around it."

Aida snorted. "I suggest that _you_ tell Cunningham that he'll be planet bound, Rudy, and not going back into space."

Rudy laughed and shook his head vigorously. "I do not have a death wish."

"Any new units arrived?" Kathleen asked.

Rudy gave her another data flimsy. "Marshall Poniatowski has arrived with his corps and has asked to join us. A very nice addition to our forces."

Eddie shook his head as he looked over the order of battle for Poniatowski's corps. "I never thought old Josef would follow us, but I'm glad he's here."

"Admiral Horthy has also asked to join us." Rudy added.

"Christ! That old bastard is as stubborn as…as…"

"As you are, Daddy." Kathleen finished.

Rudy continued. "There still seems to be an endless supply of prisoners of one sort or another from Sibir. We're getting them by the shipload."

Eddie shrugged and looked at the relevant data flimsy. "We'll manage. Anyone come through and not ask to join us?"

Rudy extracted a flimsy and handed it to Eddie. Aida leaned over his shoulder to check it with him.

"No one we'd miss." She said sharply. "And only a few we'd even tolerate."

"They'll all be problems, though." Eddie said quietly.

"Anything else?"

Rudy smiled directly at me. "Why, yes. We did receive a personal message from Dominar Rygel XVI of Hyneria. I have the data chip right here. What do you suppose he wants?"

"You'd better hope he doesn't want a K'hiff-skin coat after keeping this until last." I said. I tried to sound angry, but I was too excited, too frightened and too hopeful to manage it. 


	16. Chapter 16

Warriors For The Working Day

Chapter Sixteen

By  
(UCSBdad) 

Disclaimer: Stolen about equally from the Henson Co., David Drake and a bit from George MacDonald Fraser. Shakespeare is in the public domain, I hope. In any case, no money changes hands here. Rating: T due to language. Time: Some twenty-five plus years after Peacekeeper Wars.

Rudy put the data chip in the reader. There he was, standing right next to Rygel. He looked a bit thinner, but his gunbelt still fit around his waist. He stood with his arms crossed and stared stoically out from the holo, looking exactly like he had so very many times before when there was danger.

I had been so enthralled in looking at John that I missed the fact that Rygel had been talking.

"…and I am sure that you will want to return Baroness Sun Crichton to her beloved husband and family at the earliest possible time. Accordingly, I have arranged for Baron Crichton to rendezvous with you aboard Admiral Ta Mok's flagship at a set of coordinates that are attached to this document. For your convenience, we have used Hynerian navigational coordinates as well as those for the Sebacean, Peacekeeper, Delvian and Luxan systems. You should have no trouble. At least I sincerely hope you have no trouble."

"I, Rygel, Sixteenth of my lineage, Dominar of Hyneria, and.."

"Babe, I love you and miss you terribly. Be there, please." That, of course, was John.

Rygel glared at him. "Ahem, that is. I, Rygel, the Sixteenth of my lineage, Dominar of Hyneria and…"

"Buckwheat, I just want to get a personal message to Aeryn. Can't you…."

"Buckwheat! Turn the frelling machine off. I command…"

The data chip suddenly ended.

"Baron and Baroness Crichton?" Eddie asked.

I nodded and gave an embarrassed laugh. "When Rygel regained his throne, he made the two of us members of the Hynerian nobility as a reward for our help during his exile. John always said that he did it because it didn't cost him any money."

Kathleen and Aida had extracted the navigational coordinates that Rygel and John had sent.

Kathleen brought up a small map holo from her desk workstation and found the location of the rendezvous. "It's right on the border of the Hynerian Empire. It'll take us a good three weekens to get there."

The four of them exchanged glances. What the frell could that mean? More problems?

Finally, Eddie spoke. "Aeryn, when you go, we'd like to have you arrange a meeting with Dominar Rygel. We've been studying the political and military situation and we think we can be of use to Rygel. And he to us."

I shook my head. "I don't think that Rygel would use mercenaries to fight his civil war. One of the reasons that Bishan was so hated was that he brought in the Peacekeepers as his enforcers."

"That's not what we had in mind at all." Rudy cut in smoothly. "Hyneria has a long and exposed frontier adjoining the Uncharted Territories. For centuries it was a backwater, but they've been getting raided by ex-Imperial Charrids, renegade Peacekeepers, Scorvians, and even the occasional Luxan, not to mention pirates."

"Not to mention human raiders." Aida added glumly.

"There was little in the way of any Hynerian naval presence and most of the few ships that were there have been pulled back to help put down Bishanist insurrections." Rudy continued. "There are planetary militias, but they're small, poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly led. We can change all of that. We are strong enough to bring peace to the border and turn a drain on the Hynerian military and economy into an asset."

"Rygel has reason to trust your judgment, and we think you've seen enough of us to know that we can be trusted. We're not sure how Rygel would respond to a huge human fleet and army showing up on his border and asking if we can please have a chat. But, if Baroness Sun Crichton shows up in a lone human warship and asks for an audience with Dominar Rygel, we assume he'd agree. We'd be in the vicinity, of course, but not close enough for anyone to think we were planning an ambush, or anything. "

I thought for a microt and found myself nodding in agreement. "It would be a pleasure. There is one other thing, though."

The four of them stared at me.

"Ta Mok is a Luxan name, and I'm sure Admiral Ta Mok would have his ship's temperature controls set for what Luxans feel is comfortable. They do have areas set aside for Sebacean passengers, but I've been in more than one and the Luxans have no idea what cool means. I'd hate to have to spend my first arns with my husband sweltering in a Luxan ship, especially as I intend to give him a very vigorous greeting. And only the Goddess knows how long I'd be cooped up in there before I got to wherever Rygel is."

"I have a better idea, if you'll help me."

Three weekens later, the cruiser _Mers-el-Kibir_ glided quietly into an unnamed and uninhabited solar system on the Hynerian border.

I checked my uniform for the last time: White pants worn with black ankle boots and a dark blue high collared tunic with golden shoulder boards. I had decided to leave off the hat since I had left my hair loose.

"Incoming comm, ma'am."

A holo of John and a Luxan in the tattoos of a Hynerian admiral appeared before me. "I am Admiral Ta Mok, in the service of Dominar Rygel XVI. I assume you have Baroness Sun Crichton with you?" He growled.

I motioned for the comm tech to begin sending. John's face lit up as soon as he saw me.

I spoke before he could. "I am Captain Aeryn Sun Crichton, Human Forces Command Ship _Mers-el-Kibir_. I'd like to invite my husband aboard my ship." I reached down and undid the top button of my tunic. "Do you know, John, that humans have done the most interesting things with gravity bladders as bedding?" I undid the second button. "You might be interested to know we have human food in abundance aboard. Would you like a champagne cocktail? Oh, and is it true what they say about oysters?" I undid the third button. "Humans do have the most romantic music, you know." I undid the fourth and last button. John could clearly see that I had nothing on under my tunic. "Are you going to come over, John?"

John had his most goofy grin spread all over his face. "Mama, baby, mama, let me jump in your pajamas!"

John turned away, but Admiral Ta Mok grabbed him by the shoulder. "Baron Crichton, this could be an ambush!"

John gave him a smile, "And if it is, Hulkster, it's got the best bait I've ever seen." John turned and waved at me. "I'll be right over, babe. Don't start without me."

I gave Ta Mok, now the only person in the holo, a smile. "Admiral, I would appreciate you remaining in contact. A Mr. Vergraah will be here as soon as I leave. He wishes to send a message to Dominar Rygel. Oh, and don't dream of interrupting John and I for about another three solar days."

I waved to Rudy and headed for the hangar bay.

It seemed to take forever, but eventually a Luxan transport arrived. First off, were a dozen heavily armed and very suspicious Luxans. I could hear John inside. "I am going to see my wife, dammit!' That was followed by a Luxan roar.

Then John was on the transport's ramp, pushing his way past the Luxans. "Woooo-hoooo!" He ran to me and threw his arms around me, picked me up and whirled me around.

"Have I told you lately that I love you?"

I couldn't reply, since his tongue was now in my mouth. Then he broke the kiss, and threw me over his shoulder. "Which way is Crichton Love Nest?"

Many, many arns later.

"So! Why did it take you so frelling long to find me?"

John had been dozing with his head on my breasts. "Hmmm? What?"

"You heard me."

"Babe, this was so not my fault."

"I'm glad to hear it. That way I know you'll have a good excuse for leaving me to be hunted like an animal, to have to make my way through a very unusual human society, to raid planets, to embark on a life of crime, to negotiate with barbaric warlords, and to fight against a fleet of renegade Charrids. All while you were apparently enjoying Rygel's hospitality and gorging yourself on marjools. "

"Gorging on marjools? You have to be kidding, lady."

I gave him my most reasonable, but much put upon, wife look. "All right. No gorging on marjools."

John rolled onto his back and pulled me over so my head was resting on his chest.

"I was waiting for you to get through shopping for new weaponry, or whatever. There was a little place at the bazaar that looked like it had good food. Then, boom! It's like I'm Sonny Corleone at the toll booth! It's a mob hit from straight out of the Godfather!"

"You're making these words up, aren't you?" I interrupted. "They don't actually mean anything. You just do this to confuse me, don't you?"

John gave me a hurt look. "Aeryn. Babe! You wanted to hear my side of this."

"Please continue." I said, with a superior smile. "But could you possibly find words that the translator microbes are familiar with?"

John sighed dramatically. "Anyway, the shooters come in and pull their pieces. But, they're from off planet. What they don't know is that this is the hangout for the local wiseguys. As soon as they draw on me, it's like the entire Five Families opens up on them. It was like the last part of the Wild Bunch, except it wasn't in slow motion."

"You made a mistake." I said happily. "We saw that one together four cycles ago when we were stuck in the Carpanna Cluster. I actually understand the reference for once. The Wild Bunch is on one of your BVDs that you play on the TV. And it's a pretty lame comedy, if you ask me."

"Which no one did." John shot back. "So, as soon as the shooting stopped, the wiseguys left. Us innocent bystanders were left to tell the police that we hadn't heard or seen a thing. And that we had no idea how those dead bodies got there."

"I was about to leave before the local Keystone Cops showed up, when I happened to look down at one of the dead shooters. He had a picture of you in his hand. I checked a little further and found he had pictures of the two of us."

John stopped and looked at me, as if he thought I was going to say something.

"That's when I knew I had to find you fast. I checked the frelling bazaar, but no one seemed to know anything about a gorgeous Sebacean. Then I got lucky."

"Oh!" I interrupted. "I know what that means. You found a woman who wanted to frell."

"Babe! That is not what I meant."

I shook my head. "I remember you explaining that human joke to me, the one where the male says, "At my age getting lucky means finding my car in the parking lot." So who did you frell?"

John shook his head and groaned. "I did not frell anyone. I got lucky by running into Jothee."

"You frelled Jothee?"

"Aeryn! That's not what happened. I ran into Jothee and told him that my wife, the love of my life, the woman I have worshipped and adored since I woke up in a cell one day with her, the beautiful, intelligent, brave and very, very stubborn Aeryn Sun Crichton, was missing."

"That's all you told Jothee? Love of my life, worshipped and adored, yadda, yadda, yadda?"

"I could have stopped and written a sonnet expressing my love for you, but you were frelling in danger."

I nodded vigorously. "Good thinking, John, good thinking."

"Jothee's been doing the Lone Ranger shtick. You know, solving other people's problems, that sort of thing. Anyway, he had his ship and some of his dudes with him. He used his contacts and found out a little about the shooters who had gone after me. They weren't local talent, like I said, but they had come in on a little ship belonging to a local who ran like, a cigarette boat."

"Miami Vice." I said confidently.

John ignored me. "He was still waiting around for the shooters to come back, but he ran into Jothee's boys instead. They had a little talk with him and we found out he'd picked up the shooters from a real big time smuggler. According to him, the smuggler was still sitting out at the edge of the solar system, waiting to pick them up."

"Jothee and I went looking for the smuggler, but no joy. So, we headed back to Moya, grabbed the kids and headed for the Hynerian Empire. Rygel has always had a soft spot in his stomach for D'Argo, and the others kids, so I left them at a Hynerian border planet with strict instructions that they should be sent on to Uncle Rygel as soon as possible. Then I did my Elmer Fudd act and started out looking for wascally wabbits, and other low life, along with Jothee."

"And you've spent all of this time looking for some smuggler?"

John nodded. "I'm afraid so, babe. I was all the way out by Golindar when I finally got a message from Rygel that you were okay and looking for me. I got back as soon as I could, but Jothee's ride developed a hitch in its getalong."

"That is pathetic, Crichton." I said coldly.

"I know it is, babe. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

I smiled. "There are a few things you could do."

And he did do every one of them. Three times.

Many arns later.

"Get up, get up!" Bellowed a familiar voice. "This is no time to be sleeping. I need you."

John threw a pillow at Rygel, which he dodged. "Go away, Spanky. We weren't sleeping and we don't plan on doing any sleeping for another day or two. Vamoose."

"Be that as it may, I need you. Didn't you hear me?"

John looked at me. "Did you hear anything, babe?"

"Not a thing. Now, where were we?"

I pulled John down on top of me in hopes that Rygel would go away and John wouldn't. No luck.

"You are members of the Hynerian nobility. You have a duty to obey your Dominar!"

John sighed and threw another pillow at Rygel. "So what happens if we fink out on you? Do you make us unlearn the secret handshake?"

"What are you doing out here anyway?" I asked.

"There were rumors of a large and powerful force operating near my dominions. Then there were rumors that it was a large human force, with one Baroness Aeryn Sun Crichton in tow. Naturally, I came to investigate personally."

"Nice of you to drop by, keep those cards and letters coming and write if you get work." John said, looking in vain for another pillow. "Now scram."

"Hmmph!" Rygel snorted. "If you cannot be swayed by an appeal to your duty, I am forced to offer money. I can afford to pay for your services. A handsome sum."

"First off, the words "handsome" and "pay" are not ones that I'd usually associate with you, Fluffy. So what's the deal?"

"Marshall O'Donnell is interested in offering his services to me. Obviously, I have no experience in dealing with technologically advanced humans, nor does anyone in my Empire. Except for you two. Your expertise would be invaluable in smelling out traps and scams."

"Actually, the O'Donnells are our friends and..." John cut me off by laying a finger over my lips. I said no more.

"…and you're our friend, too." John continued smoothly. "That means you get our special friends rate, and if you act now, I'll throw in a Ginsu carving knife."

"How much?" Rygel said suspiciously.

"I'm a space explorer, Ryg. I've always wanted to explore the planetary cluster on the other side of the Flammarion Rift."

"Crichton, a Luxan expedition went through that cluster over five hundred cycles ago. They found nothing of any value."

"Oh, yeah! If it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight, go to the Luxans." John shook his head sadly. "Did you ever know a Luxan, aside from D'Argo, who ever looked for anything but targets? Of course they didn't find anything."

"How much?" Rygel repeated sourly.

"One hundred and fifty thousand krendars."

"That's odd, Crichton. I could have sworn you said one hundred and fifty thousand krendars, a clearly preposterous sum. Please speak more clearly. You must have said fifty thousand krendars."

In the end, we agreed to use our good offices with both Rygel and the O'Donnells for the sum of one hundred and twenty thousand krendars. He didn't have a lot of options.

Rygel had brought a large fleet with him and the two forces headed for the planet that held the local Hynerian Provincial Capital, G'balla.

Once there, the O'Donnells put on what they called a "dog and pony show." This consisted of a weeken of demonstrations of the power of the human fleet and army.

A human Task Force attacked an uninhabited asteroid and blew it apart. Then, a human flotilla protected a convoy of merchant ships while Hynerian ships made mock attacks on them. Everything from battleships to couriers were demonstrated.

Then it was the turn of the ground troops. Armored divisions rumbled across G'balla's plains. Troops were dropped from space onto the surface. Ships in orbit provided fire support for the ground troops.

For the finale, troops from the Tenth Flotilla made an attack on Rygel's personal flagship, _The Way to the Old Gods_. To the deep embarrassment of the ship's Luxan captain and crew, in spite of knowing they were coming, a company of the Tenth Flotilla landed on the exterior of the ship without being detected.

Finally, we found ourselves back aboard _Donegal_ in a roomy conference room. We sat with Rygel, Admiral Ta Mok and Baroness Arbette, Rygel's Minister of Finance. Across from us were Eddie and Aida as well as Rudy. Between us was a small holo of the Hynerian border area facing the Uncharted Territories.

"So," Rygel began, "what do you propose, Marshall O'Donnell?"

That was largely a formality. In the preceding days, members of Human Forces Command had made any number of "informal" suggestions to feel out Rygel's position. Rygel, of course, had done likewise. That way if one side or the other said something the other found completely appalling, no "official" feelings were hurt.

Eddie hit a control by his side. The solar systems claimed by Hyneria were highlighted. "Your Majesty has extensive holdings along the frontier of the Uncharted Territories, although we admit that all of the planets are lightly settled and generally poor. They have also been subject to raids by various parties over the last dozen or more cycles."

Rygel leaned forward to get a better view of the holo. On the left side of his hoverthrone was a dish of bite-sized human chocolates and in his right hand was a small glass of Delvian whiskey on ice. As Rygel had commented, Human Forces Command knew how to treat a Dominar.

"You're showing some very extensive holdings in the frontier regions, aren't you, Marshall O'Donnell?"

Eddie made a show if carefully looking over the systems that had been highlighted as being Hynerian. "I believe that Your Majesty still claims jurisdiction over all of these planets, do you not? Even if you haven't exercised de facto jurisdiction for, in some cases, over a hundred cycles?"

"Do you expect all of these planets to welcome you with open arms?" Ta Mok rumbled.

"Three quarters of these planets now freely acknowledge you, Dominar Rygel. Most of the rest will be happy, I think, to welcome a well armed garrison that is well paid enough and well supplied enough to not have to loot the planet to survive. The raiders they have faced, especially the Charrids, have been particularly brutal. Most will welcome us. If there are any that don't…" Eddie shrugged. "They can be allowed to go on their merry way to hell and extinction."

"And exactly how do you plan to do all of this?" Rygel asked.

"Your Majesty, I would ask that you organize all of these planets into a single frontier province. Appoint a competent governor for the province and hire that part of Human Forces Command now under my command here to protect this province. I have sufficient ships and troops to provide a substantial garrison on and around each planet and I can provide equipment and training to upgrade the planetary militias."

"All the frelling militias do is run away." Grumbled Admiral Ta Mok.

Eddie shrugged expressively. "Perhaps if they had better weapons, better training, better leaders and a powerful force to rally around when their homes were attacked, they'd stand and fight."

Ta Mok looked like he was about to become offended by this criticism of Hyneria's military, but Rygel waved him into silence and Eddie continued.

"The bulk of my fleet and a strong ground force would be maintained as a strategic reserve. I'll keep several Task Forces on patrol so that no raider will ever be sure that he won't go after a weakly held planet and then find himself facing a force strong enough to blow him into radioactive atoms."

"And how much will all of this cost?" Rygel asked.

"One hundred and twenty billion krendars a monen." Eddie said flatly.

No one said anything. Eddie continued.

"Your Highness, as we have advised you, we are not prone to bargain with prospective clients. Our services cost what they cost and no less. We have provided detailed economic analyses to Baroness Arbette. The costs are quite reasonable."

Rygel looked at Baroness Arbette. "Well?"

She shrugged slightly. "It is difficult to calculate the value of human ships, units, and other equipment since we know so little about them or their very different technology. That said, it does not seem outrageous."

Spoken like a true bureaucrat, I thought.

"It is outrageous for the number of ships and troops that you bring to His Majesty!" Ta Mok said determinedly.

"But not, we think, for the quality of the ships and troops we bring." Rudy interjected smoothly. "Your Majesty will have capabilities that no other leader in this universe has access to."

"Except anyone else who hires human mercenaries." Ta Mok shot back.

"And none of those mercenaries taken all together are as powerful as Human Forces Command!" Aida replied.

Rudy stepped in before the argument got out of hand. "Your Majesty rules an empire of over six hundred billion subjects. Our admittedly inexact calculations indicate that our fee would be under one percent of your current military budget. However, there are some financial aspects of hiring us that you may have overlooked."

Rygel stared at Baroness Arbette for a microt. "And those aspects are, Mr. Vergraah?"

Rudy smiled at the Baroness. "Something we have discussed with your people only marginally. Perhaps we didn't explain ourselves clearly."

Having avoided embarrassing Arbette, Rudy went on. "As you know, Marshall O'Donnell commands other forces than those offered for your service. We have a base at the planet Arsenal. There is a substantial defense force there and a large number of other warships. Regrettably, most of these warships are either damaged, manned by reduced crews, or both. We do have repair facilities and manpower resources to return them to full serviceability, but that will take time."

"Your point being?" Rygel asked pointedly.

Rudy bowed slightly to Rygel. "My apologies, Your Majesty. In addition to our warships we have a large number of merchant vessels who have brought cargo or passengers to this universe and have remained here. The ships are technically civilian, but due to the constant warfare in our old universe, the crews are used to military discipline and combat conditions and they all carry defensive armament and in some cases offensive weaponry."

"We are short of merchant ships." Rygel interjected. "Our shipyards, both military and civilian were put to building and repairing ships for the Peacekeepers during Bishan's usurpation. Since I regained my throne, I've had to concentrate on warships. But," Rygel gave Rudy a harsh look, "you can hardly have enough merchant ships to make a difference in an empire of six hundred billion."

Rudy quickly shook his head. "Not at all, but that was not our point. We have all sorts of merchant ships, from high speed ships designed for low volume, high value cargos…."

"If you mean smugglers, say so." Rygel snorted.

Rudy laughed. "Right then, smugglers. We have everything from smugglers to five million ton cargo ships."

"Your Majesty, the planets in your new frontier province are poor, but they are rich in potential. In the past, in times of peace, there was a great deal of commerce among those solar systems. We can easily provide the ships needed for all the commerce your frontier province is capable of generating for the foreseeable future, as well as convoy escorts from the warships in Your Majesty's service."

"And there's more." Eddie interrupted. "We have a similar, if much smaller, arrangement with the Royal Planet. In addition to a Task Group defending the planet, we provide a limited cargo and passenger service via a warship, _Scipio Africanus_. Due to the unfortunate isolationist policies of the previous governments, their interstellar commerce was almost nonexistent, and all of it was carried by other nation's ships."

"I had heard that Princess-Regent Katralla had made some sort of defense arrangement with you. I also heard there was some sort of problem there?" Rygel asked with a smile.

Eddie nodded and added his own smile. "A task force of five Charrid-crewed Scarren dreadnaughts under an Admiral Pohtalken attacked the Royal Planet and got past their defenses. We destroyed the dreadnaughts and all of his supporting cruisers and destroyers."

"Ah, "Rygel said with a huge smile, "how very sad for the so-called Charrid Empire."

"Indeed, Your Majesty." Eddie continued. "In the future, it will be much more economical for us to continue commercial services to and from the Royal Planet using merchant ships with other warships as escorts."

"While the relative positions of the Royal Planet and the Delvian Worlds make it most logical for most of the Royal Planet's trade to go to the Delvians, there is no reasons that our convoys could not continue on to Hynerian worlds, bringing you the benefits of trade with the Delvians and the Royal Planet."

"And, Your Majesty," Rudy took over, "we do have contacts in the Delvian Worlds."

"And they are?" Rygel asked. He did not seem pleased with the humans serving rulers other than himself.

"A human general called Brother Saul has contracted to defend a Delvian colony called the Garden of Galil. He has a force that is certainly powerful enough to defend a single planet, but no more."

Rudy gestured to the holo. Two planets were highlighted. "Please note that the Royal Planet and the Garden of Galil are on an almost straight line with Your Majesty's dominions."

Rygel glared at the holo of the Garden of Galil "I have heard some disturbing reports about human mercenaries in our universe, Marshall O'Donnell. Is this Brother Saul fellow trustworthy? I've heard he's some sort of religious lunatic. Exactly what the Delvians deserve, of course. But I have no desire to have to deal with some lunatic trying to push his religion down everyone's throat at gunpoint."

"As far as the propagation of religion goes," Eddie replied, "Brother Saul believes in friendly persuasion. For other types of disputes, he prefers firepower."

Baroness Arbette had been carefully examining the map and running data on her computer. "Your Majesty, this could be a very useful new trade route. With a powerful human garrison at the Royal Planet and another at the Garden of Galil, and heavily escorted convoys in between, many ships would abandon their old routes for a safer route. And a safer route that runs directly to the Hynerian Empire. If you will look at these preliminary figures I've brought up?"

Rygel spent a few microts looking at the data on the computer.

Although I knew it was coming, it was entertaining to see Rudy hook Rygel. Oh, so we were being paid to tell Rygel what was going on. It's not like we all didn't know it was in the Empire's best interest to hire the O'Donnells. Or that Rygel wouldn't have done the same to any of us.

Rudy began slyly. "Admittedly, all of these options will take some cycles to come to fruition. However, I think we can suggest something that would bring Your Majesty a good deal of profit in less than a cycle."

Rudy highlighted two more planets in the frontier. "You can see here the planets, Okarahahmbha and Ob."

Ob was the farthest out of the Hynerian frontier planets, being nearly half way across the Uncharted Territories to Tormented Space.

Rudy continued. "As you doubtlessly know, Your Majesty, both of these planets were settled by Your Majesty's Sebacean subjects and both are on the route to Sfax. Sfax is the source of a spice much prized by both Hynerians and Delvians."

Rygel guffawed. "I sincerely hope you aren't intending to attack Sfax, Marshall O'Donnell. The population is a hive society and as such quite bizarre by the standards of societies such as ours, based on individuals. And they have proven that they are willing to fight to the death for their home. In my opinion, the whole planet's a frelling madhouse. The planet itself is host to literally billions of different species of microbes, all of which are highly lethal to any organism from off planet. It's inside the boundaries of Tormented Space and its nearest neighbors are Charrid settled worlds."

Eddie shot Rygel a smile and took over from Rudy. "We do know about Sfax. All the difficulties you mention are what make the spice, jurahorau, so rare. And so valuable."

"Rare !" Rygel scoffed. "It's practically impossible to come by. I'm barely able to procure a dozen cubic motras for the use of the Imperial Kitchens and for presents to Delvians I wish to, shall we say, impress?"

 _Shall we say bribe?_ I thought to myself.

"A fast, well armed ship could go from the new frontier province to Okarahahmbha and then onto Ob. From there, it could make a high speed run to Sfax, load, say, a thousand cubic motras of jurahorau and make the return trip. _Scipio Africanus_ has proved time and again that it can easily outrun anything it can't outfight. And there's damned little out there it can't outfight."

Eddie smiled broadly at Rygel. "What would Your Majesty say to a fifty-fifty split of the jurahorau?"

Rygel didn't say a word. He just sat there with a faraway look in his eyes and a smile on his face.

Admiral Ta Mok did speak, however. "There is no reason His Majesty can't do the same without you!"

Eddie nodded. "His Majesty can establish a logistics base on the frontier. He can establish bases and garrisons on Okarahahmbha and on Ob. But can he find a ship that can outrun or outfight any Charrid raider out there?"

Eddie stared at Ta Mok who said nothing.

"His Majesty, could, instead of using my one ship, use a battleship and hope it didn't run up against a dreadnaught. It would be better to use several battleships just in case you did run into a dreadnaught. Unless, of course, the Charrids found out about the trade with Sfax and decided to ambush your battleships with…..What? Many, many dreadnaughts? That would require more Hynerian battleships to keep up the trade."

"How many battleships could His Majesty spare for this, admiral?"

For several microns no one said anything. Finally Rygel spoke, more to himself than to any of us. "We'd have to be careful not to drive the price of jurahorau down by flooding the market all at once."

Rudy nodded, concealing a smile. "I'm sure that Your Majesty will be able to change jurahorau from a luxury available only to the rulers of vast stellar empires to a necessity for those who only rule one planet."

It seemed to me that Rygel's greed must have overwhelmed his normally sharp ear for sarcasm.

Rygel exchanged glances with Admiral Ta Mok and Baroness Arbette. Both nodded, Ta Mok less enthusiastically than Arbette.

"I, Rygel, Sixteenth of My Lineage, Dominar of Hyneria, do hereby accept the proffered services of Marshall Edmund Burke O'Donnell and the forces that he has so graciously brought within my empire. I further declare that in return for his services, he shall be compensated in the sum of one hundred and twenty billion krendars per monen. In addition, I will generously lend my support to his proposed trading venture to Sfax in return for one half of the jurahorau purchased there."

Eddie, Aida and Rudy exchanged handshakes. Eddie rose and faced Rygel. "I, Edmund Burke O'Donnell swear that I will serve Dominar Rygel XVI faithfully as will all persons under my command so pledged to his service."

Eddie's face broke into a very wide smile. "And mow, Dominar Rygel, I hope you will soon appoint a governor for your new frontier province so that we may begin working together."

"No sooner said than done." Rygel responded. "I hereby appoint you to be my Governor of the Hynerian Frontier Province. I so order it."

Eddie looked around uncertainly. None of us had expected this. "I am greatly honored, Your Majesty but are you sure an alien and a mercenary is the best choice? There must be many of your loyal subjects that would be suitable for this office."

Rygel sadly shook his head. "The number of my subjects that I can trust implicitly is small. The number of those who are suitable for the post of governor is smaller yet, and all of those that I can so trust are engaged in other work for me." Rygel shot John and me a glance. "Or insist on wasting their time on other projects."

"And, Governor O'Donnell, I find that in an active military zone, a command divided between a civilian governor and the military commander is often unwise."

Eddie shrugged. "I am honored by your trust, Your Majesty."

"It's not all trust." Rygel said, winking to Eddie. "There are at least a dozen nobles in my court who will be enraged at being passed over for the position of governor. I'm sure that they will keep me advised of your actions on a very timely basis and make sure that every error you make is brought to my attention."

"I'll try not to make any errors, then, Your Majesty."

"Good! As a side benefit, those nobles will be too busy plotting against you to think of plotting against me."

"Very wise of Your Majesty." Rudy added. "I just hope they don't fill your ears with lies about us."

Baroness Arbette laughed. "When he first reclaimed his throne, Dominar Rygel was lied to by many of his nobles who tried to cover up their previous loyalty to the usurper Bishan."

"The survivors learned not to do that any more." Rygel said grimly.

Aida cleared her throat. "May my husband and I discuss a matter with you, Your Majesty? We had intended to discuss it with the new governor."

"Please do, Vice-Governor O'Donnell."

Aida smiled. "Do I get paid extra for that?"

Rygel smiled back. "Don't be absurd."

Aida highlighted another planet in the holo view. This one was familiar.

Eddie spoke. "A human mercenary, Sir Robert Knowles, has conquered the planet Jolo and taken the title of Viceroy. I've seen Charrid corsairs in orbit around his planet and I have good intelligence that he has Charrid troops on planet. Two regiments my intelligence tells me. That puts Charrid raiders right on the route from the Royal Planet to the Delvian Worlds."

"I strongly suspect that Knowles is working for Charrid raiders. I'd like to terminate his command."

Rygel shook his head. "Knowles works for a Charrid admiral by the name of Karrachan. He's the Sector Admiral for the portion of Emperor Staleek's domains that face the Delvian frontier. Karrachan loudly proclaims his loyalty to Staleek and his support for the Scarren-Peacekeeper Peace Treaty. All the while, he arms renegade Charrids, and provides them with money and intelligence. Staleek is devious, at least for a Scarren, but he seems to be thoroughly fooled by Karrachan."

"And, my dear Governor, Emperor Staleek would be greatly upset if we seized an "independent" planet so close to his own territory. Perhaps if we can get proof enough to convince Staleek that Karrachan is a traitor, we can do something."

"I wonder if I might change the subject, Your Majesty?" Rudy suddenly asked.

"Certainly, Mr. Vergraah."

"This is a purely hypothetical question, you must understand. What if one of our officers, not in Your Majesty's service, one still at Arsenal and owing allegiance only to Marshall O'Donnell should decide to leave the Marshall's service? And to take with him a force of, let us say one battleship, three armored cruisers, eight other cruisers, eighteen destroyers and two dozen missile frigates. Plus scouts, couriers, troop transports, replenishment ships and a corps of ground troops amounting to some three standard armored divisions plus support troops."

"And," Rudy went on, "suppose this officer should invade Jolo for reasons of his own? Having defeated Knowles and now being in charge of Jolo, suppose he should now decide that leaving Marshall O'Donnell's service was an error? He decides to pledge his fealty again to the Marshall as head of Human Forces Command and not as the Hynerian Governor of the Frontier Province. Would Emperor Staleek, having said nothing about Jolo being conquered by one human, now be in a position to complain that other humans had conquered it and now held it?"

Rygel smiled at Rudy. "A hypothetical question, you say?"

"Yes, Your Highness." Rudy said, returning the smile.

"In that case, Mr. Vergraah, I can see no basis for Emperor Staleek to complain. Although it is always possible that elements in his court might not be so understanding."

"Very interesting, Your Majesty. May I now completely change the subject?"

"Oh, please do, Mr. Vergraah." Rygel replied.

Rudy changed the holo display to show a blizzard of statistics. "As you can see, we have a large number of warships at Arsenal that were either damaged in combat or are in dire need of maintenance. We also need to train crews for many of them before they would be ready for battle. In fact, we actually have more warships at Arsenal than elsewhere, even if the fleet at Arsenal is not as powerful."

"The flagship of one of our commanders, an Admiral Cervera, recently arrived at Arsenal. The ship is the battleship _Pelayo_ ,100. One of her engines was severely damaged in combat some five years ago. She's been getting around on the remaining engine and the help of tugs for non-combat maneuvering. Alas, she had to be towed to Arsenal by those tugs as her other engine has failed. She was escorted into this universe by a brand new armored cruiser, but the balance of Admiral Cervera's squadron is in need of repairs as well. But there are many, many other ships also in need of repairs already at Arsenal."

"If we could have the use of Your Highness' naval shipyards at Kerr'Ha or at Boistt for four months, it would allow us to completely replace Pelayo's engines and otherwise upgrade her. And do needed work on all Cervera's other ships."

Rygel nodded. "I would suggest that you send ships already at Arsenal to Kerr'Ha and do the repairs for this Cervera at Arsenal. Just out of curiosity, how many ships does Cervera have?"

"One battleship, three armored cruisers, eight other cruisers, eighteen destroyers and two dozen missile frigates plus scouts, couriers, troop transports, and replenishment ships." was Rudy's prompt reply.

"Does he have any ground troops?"

Rudy shook his head. "He only has a battalion of marines, Your Majesty. But he is from a planet called Extramadura. We do have an Extramaduran Corps in our service. It consists of three standard armored divisions plus supporting troops."

So, the future of Jolo was decided. I hoped the woman whose life I had saved would still be alive to enjoy it.

Suddenly, I realized that the meeting was over. John and I would soon be heading home to Moya and the children.

"Babe, why don't you go back to your quarters here and get your stuff. I need to talk to Sluggo for a microt about our cash and a ride back to Hyneria."

I gave John a quick kiss and headed back to my quarters.

The passageways were crowded with people getting ready for _Donegal_ to leave for the new Frontier Province. Even so, it only took microts for me to get to my quarters and start to pack.

"Good news and good news, babe." John said, sticking his head in the door.

"And that is?" I said, arching an eyebrow.

"Ryg came through with the money. And, best of all, we don't have to take a trip on the _SS Swamp Thing_."

It was an effort not to show John how much I had missed his incomprehensible human references. "A trip on what?" I said with my best exasperated Sebacean wife tone of voice.

"We don't have to ride back to Hyneria to pick up Moya and the kids on Rygel's yacht. The O'Donnells are sending a ship to Hyneria with a liaison team and to set up a courier service. We're going with them. We'll be back on Moya in no time and ready to plan our exploration of the area past the Flammarion Rift." John suddenly snapped his fingers. "That reminds me. Someone must have accidentally put something useful among the froggy porn in Rygel's library on his ship. He told me he has the complete report of the Luxan expedition there. He's going to make a copy. I have to get to the boat bay to pick it up. Be right back." He leaned in and kissed me and then left.

I found that I was looking forward to a nice long voyage of discovery with John. Something with enough excitement to avoid boredom, but not the sort of excitement I had had to put up with lately. And plenty of time in bed with John.

I finished packing in no time. I decided that I could start walking towards the boat bay and meet John on his way back. _Donegal_ was leaving, but I was sure we had time to say goodbye to my new friends.

As I walked past the conference room we had recently left, I caught sight of Rudy, sitting and staring intently at the holo display of this section of the galaxy.

"Planning the empire of Rudy the Magnificent?" I teased.

Rudy chuckled. "No, I'm just looking at our new home."

Rudy turned back to the holo display and hit a control. A series of bright red lines appeared. "I do think that our alliance with Dominar Rygel will work out well. The lines represent major trade routes. Now, many of them are closed or rarely used because of raids from dissident Peacekeepers, or renegade Charrids, Luxan warlords or even some spillover from the never ending Scorvian-Ilanic war."

"And to answer the question you're about to ask, Aeryn, I do believe that the Idelons will bring peace to the galaxy, but not in the time frame that many people expected. It will be a long time and I think things will get worse before they get better."

"That's why it was important for us to ally ourselves with Dominar Rygel."

I wasn't following this. "Why Rygel and not another race?"

"Meaning no disrespect to you as a former Peacekeeper…"

"A very former Peacekeeper. I couldn't be happier that I'm not one."

Rudy smiled at me. "Good! I'm glad to hear it."

"But, happy former Peacekeeper, the Peacekeepers, the Scarrens, and the Luxans are all warrior races. They have no interest in economics, and in many respects consider mere money grubbing to be dishonorable. But, economics is what provides them with the weapons to be warriors."

"No bucks, no Buck Rogers, huh?" said a very familiar human voice.

"Quite so, Commander Crichton."

"Call me John."

"In that case, call me Rudy."

"As I was telling Aeryn, John, our alliance with Dominar Rygel puts us very close to many major trade routes. And the Hynerians can appreciate their importance. Oh, the Delvians appreciate economics, at least more than the warrior races, but they are devoted to the Seek above all. And who knows what the Nebari appreciate since the conquest of the universe backfired on them."

"Our forces still at Arsenal and even those still coming into this universe are light forces: Cruiser and destroyers with few battleships. They're just the ships we need to escort convoys and protect planets from lightly armed raiders. With, of course, a large and heavily armed main fleet to discourage or destroy anything stronger."

John took a close look at the holo map. "So your ultimate goal is to control the trade routes?"

"No, John. Our ultimate goal is to make a home. And, I'm happy to say we have found a home for my family."

"Do you consider the O'Donnells your family, Rudy?" I asked.

Rudy didn't answer for a microt. "Yes, I do, I suppose. However, I meant my family. I have a wife and four children: Two males and two females."

I laughed to cover my embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I just didn't think of you as the family type."

"You mean I'm not the very model of a thirty-first century extraterrestrial pater familias?" Rudy asked in mock horror.

"I'm sure you are." I said hurriedly. Then I started thinking. "Rudy, I haven't seen any other K'hiff in Human Forces Command except for the relatively small number aboard Scipio Africanus. Where is your family?"

Rudy smiled ruefully. "Ah, you have uncovered a secret, I'm afraid. But only a small one as these things go."

"My family is still on K'hiff. President Azzule, who you may remember from your trip to our world, is the leader of our world now. He realizes that the Great Powers of Humanity, as they style themselves, will maintain a truly enormous fleet near his planet to keep Marshall O'Donnell and the others from ever coming back."

"But in time, the need for the fleet will diminish and it will leave. In the meantime, no one seems to mind if a bunch of hairy barbarians buy some antique human spaceships and try their luck using the Artifact to explore this universe. President Azzule sees that trade between our universes is inevitable and he is determined that K'hiff will benefit."

"In a few months my family will join me on Arsenal with a few hundred K'hiff colonists. As time passes, more K'hiff will join us."

"Humans have always found us to be apt pupils. I think we may surprise our friends."

For a few microts we all looked at the holo map before us. Then Rudy broke the silence.

"Dear me. Eddie, Aida and Kathleen will want to say good-bye to you both. As will the many other friends you've made here, Aeryn, including myself. We should be off."

We walked out of the briefing room. At the door, I turned and took a last look at the map. I wondered what it would look like in the future.

The End

 **Author's note: Up next will be A Matter of Intelligence, set in this same universe.  
**


End file.
